DUKE  UNIVERSITY 


LIBRARY 


The  Glenn  Negley  Collection 
of  Utopian  Literature 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arciiive 
in  2010  witii  funding  from 
Duke  University  Libraries 


littp://www.arcliive.org/details/talelialftoldOOIavo 


JULIA   LA    VOIE. 


dA   TALE 
HALF  TOLD 


JULIA      LAVOIE 


NEW     YORK 
BROADWAY    PUBLISHING 
COMPANY    835    BROADWAY 


Copyrighted,    in    1904, 

BY 
JULIA    LAVOIE. 


All    Rights    Reserved. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

CHAPTER  I. 
I  Meet  an  Officer  of  the  New  Republic 1 

CHAPTER  II. 
I  Learn  His  Name 13 

CHAPTER  III. 
I  Make  the  Acquaintance  of  the  Next  in  Line  of  the 

Hawouitian  Kings 17 

CHAPTER  IV. 
I  Do  a  Sum  in  Division < 24 

CHAPTER  V. 
Our  Lessons  Are  Adjourned 29 

CHAPTER  VI. 
The  Shadow  of  Coming  Events 36 

CHAPTER  VII. 
In  Which  Our  Lips  Meet 43 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
The  Downfall  of  the  Republic 54 

CHAPTER  IX. 
I  Change  My  Name  and  Social  Standing 62 

CHAPTER  X. 
I  Realize  My  Martyrdom 71 


RfiR 


iv  Contents. 

PAGE 

CHAPTER  XI. 
I  Find  a  Friend  in  One  Whom  I  Befriended 78 

CHAPTER  XII. 
Civil  War  Is  Declared 85 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
I  Listen  to  a  Strange  Story 96 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
Enter  Kameh  Roolik 107 

CHAPTER  XV. 
I  Make  an  Attempt  to  See  the  President 113 

CHAPTER  XVI. 
I   Speak  My  Mind 120 

CHAPTER  XVII. 
Retribution 126 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 
I  Am  Left  Alone 135 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

AUTHOR'S    PORTRAIT Frontispiece 

PAGE 
"This  is  Kameh  Roohk,  our  Minister  of  the  In- 
terior"        i8 

"Do  you  mean "  he  began,  then  paused 6g 

"And  are  you  going  to  leave  me  for  him" 132 


"'■vn:-' 


A   TALE    HALF   TOLD 


CHAPTER  I. 

I   MEET    AN"    OFFICER   OF   THE    NEW    REPUBLIC. 

Thrice  have  I  begun  this  tale,  and  twice  have 
I  laid  down  m}'  pen,  resolved  to  let  that  die  with 
me,  which,  from  a  moral,  or  otherwise  philo- 
sophical standpoint,  can  be  of  no  service  to  my 
fellowmen.  It  has  been-  said  if  we  have  nothing 
of  use  to  leave  the  world  that  silence  were  our 
best  bequest.  This  is  undeniably  true.  But  why 
wear}'  you  with  a  chapter  of  apologies  ?  The  want 
of  candor  is,  above  all  markings,  the  shade  by 
which  we  may  identify  a  small  soul.  I  admit,  then, 
that  I  leave  this  writing  in  the  vague  belief  that 
■when  I  take  on  earth's  conditions  again  I  may  find 
herein  that  which  will  be  of  benefit  to  me.  By 
this  admission  you  will  see  that  I  cherish  the  de- 
sire, if  not  the  hope,  of  being  visible  again  to 
mortal  men. 

When  I  come  again  I  may  be  able  to  write. 

I  am  of  keenest  wit,  and  beauty  most  alluring ! 

I  am  good ;  I  am  perfect  in  every  detail ! 


2  'K   Tale    Half    Told. 

Perhaps;  who  knows? 

I  was  born  in  a  life-boat  on  the  high  seas,  on 
February  twenty-second,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord 
eigliteen  hundred  and  ,  but  then  what  mat- 
ter? It  is  a  mistake  to  keep  account  of  one's 
birthdays. 

Time  !  What  is  it  ?  A  chimera !  an  illusion ! 
invented  to  discourage  man,  and  remind  him  of 
the  passing  of  his  life.  We  remember  yesterday, 
but  we  live  only  in  to-da3^  We  hope  for  the  mor- 
row, but  the  morrow  is  never  our  own.  So  do  we 
go  on  in  our  eternal  to-day;  and  on,  and  on, 
world  without  end. 

Good  people,  repudiate  time!  Time  is  a  ty- 
rant !  time  a  thief !  He  robs  one  of  j'outh,  and 
mocks  him  with  ambitions  thwarted ! 

Assume  then  that  there  is  no  time,  and  let  us 
proceed. 

My  mother,  who  died  at  my  birth,  was  a  Greek, 
my  father  a  Huguenot  missionary.  So  it  comes  to 
pass  that  in  me  are  met  two  distinctly  opposite 
forces:  the  mistaken  earnestness  of  the  evangelist, 
and  the  subtle  duplicity  of  the  Greek.  As  my 
father's  mission  in  life  was  to  convert  the  heathen, 
we  never  remained  long  enough  in  one  place  for 
me  to  attend  school ;  he  therefore  superintended 
my  education  himself,  the  result  being  that  I  am 
ignorant  of  many  things,  but  very  familiar  with 
the  Scriptiires,  and  conversant  of  numerous  strange 
tongues.  He  was  himself  a  scholar,  and  taught 
me  much  that  would  be  of  inestimable  worth  had 
I  but  the  rudiments  upon  which  it  might  rest.  I 
have  no  doubt  but  that  he  was  a  good  man,  but  he 
was  a  mistaken  one.     Whether,  in  the  eternal  fit- 


A   Tale    Half    Told.  3 

neps  of  things  he  will  ever  find  his  proper  setting, 
is  a  matter  which  has  occasioned  me  much  thought. 

It  is  also  a  question  in  my  mind  whether,  in  in- 
structing me  in  languages,  he  did  me  a  good  turn 
or  another  injury;  for  through  such  knowledge  I 
secured  the  situation  which  led  me  into  a  series  of 
errors. 

As  I  suspect  that  all  errors  must  be  corrected 
some  time  in  some  way,  I  fear  that,  although 
wholly  my  fatlier's  fault,  my  spiritual  growth  is 
retarded. 

It  is  some  five  years  ago  that  my  father,  with 
his  Bible  under  his  arm,  and  a  shot-gun  in  his 
hand,  penetrated  the  mountainous  region  of  the 
newly  founded  republic  of  Hawouitia,  and  con- 
tracting a  disorder  then  prevalent,  died  in  my  arms, 
leaving  me  a  stranger  in  a  strange  land. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  determine  which  of 
the  many  languages  spoken  here  was  the  dominat- 
ing one.  The  new  constitution,  it  was  said,  was 
framed  in  English ;  the  President,  reputed  a  young 
man,  being,  it  was  rumored,  an  Englishman. 
Through  political  influence — for  my  father, 
though  a  clergyman  and  a  most  worthy  man,  had 
a  habit  of  slipping  into  the  inside  pocket  of  the 
politics  of  whatever  countrj''  wherein  he  chanced 
to  be — I  secured  a  position  as  teacher  of  languages 
to  the  little  daughter  of  the  President  of  Hawoui- 
tia. 

The  beauty  of  a  crimson  dawn  had  hardly 
rounded  into  a  voluptuous  j^ellow  day  crowned  with 
a  roof  of  measureless  sapphire,  when,  on  one  mem- 
orable morning,  I  bade  farewell  to  the  kind  people 
who  had  been  our  hosts  during  my  father's  last  ill- 


'4.  A   Tale    Half    Told. 

ness,  and  with  one  servant  to  act  as  guide  and  look 
after  my  general  welfare,  started  for  New  Baby- 
lon, the  capital  of  Hawonitia.  The  times  were 
peaceful,  and  I  felt  no  fear,  although  we  were 
obliged  to  go  by  horse  all  of  the  way,  a  distance  of 
sixty  miles. 

We  rode  in  silence  for  several  hours,  no  sound 
save  the  trill  of  the  robin  or  the  gurgling  of  some 
mountain  stream  rushing  down  the  rocks  to  a 
meeting  of  waters  in  the  glen  below,  disturbing 
the  silence  of  the  air.  What  is  that  something 
enveloped  in  silence  which  teaches  us  to  speak? 
When  the  sky  is  jewelled  and  azure;  when  the 
mountains  raise  themselves  in  their  might  to  kiss 
her;  when  the  river  lies  stretched  out  before  me; 
when  not  a  breeze  plays  in  the  grass  at  my  feet, 
and  the  insects  hide  themselves  in  the  shadow  of  a 
leaf,  then — oh,  then,  I  feel  within  me  a  thousand 
tongues  all  clamoring  for  utterance,  all  claiming 
the  right  to  be  heard!  Oh,  mighty  Something! 
what  are  you?  where  are  you?  what  will  you?  I 
learn  by  your  silence  that  I  am  your  spokesman; 
reveal  to  me  also  that  which  you  would  have  me 
speak.  You  ask  not  if  I  be  Buddhist,  Hebrew, 
Mussulman,  Christian,  Schismatic,  Romanist  by 
ritual,  or  Greek  by  superstition.  You  ask  only 
that  I  understand  you.  Forms  and  mechanisms 
of  government  be  things  that  pass  with  the  years ; 
but  you  pass  not  away.  You  stand  for  the  love  of 
liberty,  the  freedom  of  thought,  the  pursuit  of 
happiness,  and  the  royalty  of  man. 

We  had  eaten  the  lunch  we  carried  in  our  saddle 
bags,  and  the  sun  was  riding  high,  when  the  clatter 
of  hoofs  and  the  clanking  of  gte«l  smote  harshly 


'A   Tale    Half    Told.  5 

on  the  soft  murmurs  of  the  air,  and  there  swept 
toward  us  from  the  right  a  cavalcade  of  great  bril- 
liancy. Through  the  long  grass  they  dashed,  gor- 
geous in  their  raiment  of  crimson  and  white,  their 
rich  arms  flashing  in  the  sunlight,  and  ringing 
through  the  silence  of  the  hills.  At  their  head, 
shoulder  to  shoulder,  rode  two  men  strikingly  un- 
like in  looks  and  apparel.  The  elder  carried  him- 
self with  great  dignity.  He  wore  a  timic  of  scarlet 
cloth  bordered  with  gold  and  reaching  to  the  knee ; 
around  his  waist  a  sash  was  girded,  presumably 
concealing  a  belt,  for  there  glittered  above  its  silken 
folds  a  variety  of  jewelled  arms ;  his  long  sleeves 
■were  drawn  through  the  girdle  behind,  but  in  front 
they  fell  open  to  the  shoulder,  revealing  a  wide 
Tinder  sleeve  of  silk  gauze,  white  and  gleaming  in 
its  richness  and  bordered  with  a  fine  wrought 
fringe.  On  his  head  rode  a  scarlet  fez,  and  above 
that  a  wide  straw  hat  with  a  very  small  crown 
wreathed  with  freshly  plucked  flowers.  His  com- 
panion looked  a  mere  boy,  and  was  much  less 
magnificently  caparisoned.  Across  his  saddle-bow 
swung  a  musket  and  from  his  leathern  belt  flashed 
a  brace  of  silver  mounted  revolvers.  He  sat  a 
noble  steed  and  rode  with  ease,  but  not  dignity. 
I  readily  guessed  that  he  was  a  person  of  some  dis- 
tinction, probably  an  envoy  from  the  President  to 
Kameh  Eoohk,  a  prince  of  the  blood,  having  his 
estate  in  that  part  of  the  island ;  nor  was  I  sur- 
prised when  the  cavalcade  halted,  and  he  of  the 
scarlet  tunic  swept  off  his  hat,  leaving  his  head 
bare  but  for  the  scarlet  fez,  and  bowed  to  his  horse  s 
neck.  The  stranger  lifted  his  hat,  and  with  two 
others,  evidently  attendants,  rode  out  of  the  ranks 


6  'A   Tale    Half   Told. 

and  toward  New  Babylon,  while  the  company  swung 
about  with  much  brilliancy  and  ostentatious  show 
and  proceeded  whence  they  came. 

It  is  the  small  acts  of  life  that  betray  the  real 
character  of  a  man,  and  I  was  therefore  somewhat 
amused  at  the  carefulness  of  the  stranger  in  sig- 
naling the  guides  to  ride  ahead ;  a  discretion  which 
greatly  belied  the  carelessness  of  his  bearing. 

My  servant,  a  Spaniard,  now  came  to  my  side 
and  suggested  we  keep  with  the  party  as  it  might 
be  dark  before  we  reached  New  Babylon,  and  al- 
though the  times  were  peaceful  the  change  of  gov- 
ernment was  recent,  and  a  convulsion  such  as  had 
rent  the  state  at  the  overthrow  of  the  late  Queen 
left  an  undercurrent  for  some  time,  and — well! 
in  fact,  there  was  strength  in  numbers.  He  ac- 
cordingly hailed  one  of  the  men  as  the  trio  neared, 
and  began  passing  commonplaces  of  the  day. 

The  stranger  did  not  speak,  and  seemed 
in  fact  not  to  notice  that  his  attendants  had  made 
a  new  acquaintance.  He  held  the  bridle  lightly  in 
one  hand,  the  other  hand  rested  on  his  hip.  I 
noticed  that  he  was  gracefully  but  not  strongly 
built,  and  that  his  clothes  sat  well  upon  him.  His 
cheek  was  smooth,  brilliant  with  bloom,  and  fresh 
as  a  young  girl's.  I  judged  his  age  to  be  about 
twenty. 

He  had  been  staring  straight  ahead,  but  as  he 
came  alongside  my  horse  he  saluted  me  by  merely 
touching  the  broad  brim  of  his  soft  felt  hat  with 
the  butt  end  of  his  riding  whip.  This  salutation 
not  being  one  of  finished  cordiality  rather  put  me 
out  of  ease,  and  I  coughed  to  attract  my  servant's 
attention,  but  he  was  engrossed  with  his  fellow  and 


A   Tale    Half    Told.  7 

did  not  notice  it,  I  therefore  drew  rein  to  let  the 
traveler  ride  ahead,  but  he  also  held  back  and, 
turning  in  our  saddles,  we  looked  each  other  over 
horse  and  man.  I  was  in  mourning  for  my  father 
and  wore  a  black  riding  habit  and  broad  hat  of 
canvas  boimd  in  black ;  m.y  face  was  covered  from 
above  the  brows  to  the  chin  by  a  black  velvet  mask, 
worn  to  protect  my  complexion  from  the  dust  and 
sun. 

He  looked  at  me  and  through  me. 

We  did  not  speak. 

Our  horses,  with  a  sagacity  more  than  human, 
here  rubbed  noses,  and,  evidently  arriving  at  an 
agreement,  started  forward  neck  to  neck. 

The  slopes  over  which  we  traveled  were  red  hot 
and  stony,  and  the  temperature  such  as  to  make 
one  envy  the  buffaloes  that  lay  cooling  in  a  broad, 
shallow  river  we  passed,  their  heads  and  humps 
alone  visible  above  water,  and  their  muzzles  just 
sufficiently  advanced  to  enhance  felicity  by  com- 
panionship. After  an  hour  we  left  the  stony  soil, 
turning  directly  up  toward  the  cool  green  and 
gray  of  the  mountains,  and  the  way  became  lovelier 
as  the  changeless  sunshine  darkened  to  fanciful 
shadows  in  the  wooded  ravines  below. 

The  day  began  to  decline,  and  in  the  mulberry 
gardens  which  fringed  the  road  the  nightingale 
poured  forth  her  soul-reaching  notes,  and  the  scar- 
let bells  of  the  pomegranate  bush  unfurled  their 
petals  to  a  light  breeze.  From  the  mountain's 
summit  could  136  seen  surroimding  islands,  violet 
in  the  distance,  like  amethysts  upon  a  golden  sea. 

In  the  contemplation  of  that  ocean  spread  out 
before  me,  and  in  the  recollection  of  the  weary 


8  A    Tale    Half    Told. 

days  in  which  we  clave  that  pathless  way,  my 
father  and  I,  pushing  on,  alone  and  obscure,  into 
strange  lands  among  peoples  dark  and  savage,  I 
for  tlie  moment  forgot  my  silent  companion,  until 
through  my  mask  I  felt  his  steady  and  penetrating 
gaze ;  I  turned  my  eyes  upon  him.  He  was  looking 
seaward.    We  resumed  our  way. 

Soon  we  approached  a  track  of  headlong  steep- 
ness, narrow  as  the  Mussulman's  bridge  to  Para- 
dise, and  following  the  example  of  our  guides,  we 
dismounted. 

He  led  his  horse,  I  led  mine. 

When  we  reached  level  ground  we  stood  and 
faced  each  other;  the  others  had  halted  some  dis- 
tance in  advance.  I  experienced  a  curious  tin- 
gling of  the  nerves  as  I  met  his  full  glance.  His 
eyes  were  brownish-gray,  bright,  smiling,  and  very 
cold.  I  felt  the  scarlet  bathe  my  brow  and  1  looked 
away. 

But  I  am  not  of  a  taciturn  bent.  Leave  to  the 
Turks  their  solemn  and  impregnable  reserve,  they 
are  the  people  of  silence;  while  T — well!  I  am  a 
creature  of  perpetual  and  brilliant  dialogue.  I 
determined  to  ride  no  further  A\ith  a  dummy  or 
a  deaf  mute.  I  accordingly  settled  myself  upon  a 
rock  and  resting  an  elbow  on  my  knee  dropped  my 
chin  on  my  hand.  My  companion  remained  mo- 
tionless some  minutes  looking  at  me,  then  slipping 
a  ring  from  his  finger  he  dropped  upon  one  knee 
and  commenced  writing  in  the  dust  at  my  feet.  He 
wrote  three  sentences,  one  beneath  the  other,  and 
with  space  between  each  for  an  answer.  The  first 
was  wTitten  in  English,  the  second  in  Spanish,  the 
third  in  French :  they  all  asked  the  same  question : 


A    Tale    Half    Told.  9 

"Do  you  believe  in  love  at  first  sight?'' 

He  held  out  the  ring  to  me ;  I  took  it  and  wrote 
in  Spanish; 

"At  sight,  perhaps,  but  not  through  a  mask." 

His  eyes  smiled,  but  his  face  remained  immobile. 
He  took  the  ring  and  wrote  again  in  Spanish : 

"You  are  Spanish  ?" 

I  took  the  ring  and  wrote  in  English: 

"Guess  again." 

He  glanced  quickly  at  me  and  wrote  in  English, 
and  he  made  the  lines  deep : 

"You  are  English  ?" 

I  wrote  in  Turkish : 

"You  have  one  more  coming." 

He  looked  puzzled,  then  taking  the  ring  he  wrote 
again  in  English : 

"I  cannot  read  that ;  of  what  race  are  you  ?" 

"The  human  race,"  I  wrote  in  French. 

He  now  spoke,  and  his  voice  was  rich  and  fresh : 

"You  come  of  a  great  race,"  he  said,  in  English. 

"ISTo  greater  has  ever  lived,"  I  replied  in  the 
same  language. 

"And  you?"  I  asked. 

"I  too  am  of  the  root  of  Man,"  and  he  raised  his 
hat. 

"Perhaps  we  worship  the  same  God?"  I  ven- 
tured.   I  inherit  this  question  from  my  father. 

"The  highest  God  is  libert}',"  was  his  answer. 

"What  are  you  doing  here  alone?"  was  his  next 
query. 

"I  am  not  alone." 

*'You  were  when  I  met  you." 
.    ''Pardon,  my  servant  was  with  me." 

He  glanced  contemptuously  at  the  Spaniard. 


lo  A   Tale    Half    Told. 

"I  would  place  as  much  reliance  in  the  protec- 
tion of  a  panther,"  said  he. 

I  thought  of  the  taint  in  my  own  blood,  and 
wondered  if  aught  about  me  bespoke  the  Greek. 

"And  you,"  I  asked,  "are  you  not  over  young 
to  be  away  from  home  ?" 

He  replaced  the  ring  on  his  finger. 

"Perhaps  not  as  young  as  you  think."  Then 
after  a  pause,  "How  old  should  you  take  me  to  be?" 

I  looked  him  over. 

"Eighteen,"  I  said,  "nineteen?" 

He  laughed  aloud. 

"Take  away  the  first  number,  leave  the  last; 
plus  three,  divide  by  two — got  it?  'Now  add  the 
number  you  took  away" — I  nodded — "and  you 
have  it." 

He  helped  me  mount. 

"We  are  now  getting  into  a  part  of  the  country 
less  hostile  to  the  new  Republic,"  he  said  as  we 
rode  on. 

"Where  I  met  you  then  is  a  district  in  sympathy 
with  the  late  monarchy  ?" 

"Yes,  Prince  Kameh  is  a  scion  of  the  royal 
house;  he  has  Just  accepted  the  office  of  Minister 
of  the  Interior.  You  know  the  safest  place  for  a 
man  deprived  of  what  he  deems  his  rightful  place 
is  in  the  public  eye." 

"You  visited  the  prince  in  behalf  of  the  Presi- 
dent, then?" 

He  flecked  some  dust  from  his  coat  sleeve. 

"I  called  with  the  President's  appointment,"  said 
he. 

"You  know  the  President's  family  well,  I  sup- 
pose?" I  next  inquired. 


A    Tale    Half    Told.  ii 

"As  well  as  any  one  living,"  he  replied. 

Before  resuming  the  conversation  I  embraced 
myself  for  this  lucky  encounter. 

"Then  you  can  tell  me  a  great  deal  that  I  should 
like  to  know/'  I  continued,  "for  I  am  going  there 
to  live." 

He  had  a  quick  way  of  turning  to  look  at  one 
when  least  expected.  This  time  he  turned  toward 
me  so  quickly  as  to  startle,  by  the  sharp  movement, 
my  horse  which,  unblinded,  kept  a  jealous  eye  on 
his  spirited  fellow-traveler;  the  President's  envoy 
caught  the  bridle  and  prevented  the  animal's  bolt- 
ing. 

"Is  the  President  young  ?"  I  demanded. 

"Yes — fairly — in  fact,  very  young  for  a  Presi- 
dent." 

"And  his  wife — is  she  beautiful?" 

"The  lady  known  as  the  President's  wife  is  the 
most  beautiful  woman  I  have  ever  seen — un- 
masked," he  replied. 

"Is  she  kind  ?  agreeable  ?" 

"She  is  an  angel ;  God  bless  her !" 

I  felt  an  odd  mingling  of  surprise  and  disap- 
pointment at  this  high  praise.  I  drew  myself  up, 
shook  my  horse's  bridle  free  of  the  hand  that  still 
held  it  and  touching  spur  dashed  ahead.  My  in- 
formant made  no  attempt  to  keep  up  with  me, 
although  I  knew  he  had  passed  our  guides  and 
kept  not  far  behind  my  flying  steed.  At  this  pace 
we  were  soon  at  the  outskirts  of  the  town. 

It  was  in  the  purple  twilight  of  a  summer's 
evening  that  we  rode  together  down  King  Street 
and  parted  in  front  of  the  Executive  Building. 
The  front  of  the  buliding  was  heavy  with  gilt- 


12  A    Tale    Half    Told. 

lettered  signs:  "^Department  of  Foreign  Affairs," 
"Department  of  the  Interior/'  "Chiefs  of  Bureaus, 
Interior  Department,"'  "Board  of  Fire  Commis- 
sioners/' "Bureau  of  Agriculture  and  Forestry," 
"Department  of  Finance."  In  fact,  a  front  elo- 
quent of  the  needs  of  a  civilized  people. 

"We  may  meet  again,"  said  my  new  acquaint- 
ance, as  he  took  off  his  hat. 

"We  may,"  I  rejoined,  as  I  bade  him  good-bye. 


A   Tale    Half   Told.  13 


CHAPTEE  II. 

I   LEARN   HIS   NAME, 

In  this,  our  web  of  life,  are  many  threads  of 
divers  colorings.  We  weave  in  shadow,  and  all  im- 
perfectly we  spin  our  threads  of  sombre  gray;  a 
ray  of  light  and  the  threads  become  pale  silver, 
a  gleam  of  sunshine  and  they  glow  with  rainbow 
hues.  And  there  is  yet  another  blending:  the 
blacks  and  vermillions  of  baleful  passions.  Un- 
seeing, hoping  against  hope,  with  the  variation  of 
a  hair's  breadth  in  the  beginning  making  a  defect 
in  the  end,  we  weave  craftily  on,  keeping  pace 
with  the  countless  systems  of  the  universe  as  they 
unwittingly  wheel  their  tireless  course. 

And  all  the  while  we  criticise  the  handiwork 
of  the  blind  spinners  about  us,  as,  with  straining 
pulse  and  aching  sinews,  they  spread  and  lengthen 
their  distorted  cuts.  We  who  have  not  learned  the 
weaver's  knot,  who  know  not  3'et  how  to  piece  our 
broken  ends. 

Some  say  that  for  countless  revolutions  of  worlds 
have  we  so  spun,  and  that  as  it  was  in  the  begin- 
ning so  it  will  be  in  the  end,  for  what  has  for- 
ever been  must  forever  be;  but  for  myself  I  con- 
fess that  it  seems  a  very  long  pilgrimage  for  very 
little  profit,  since  we  might  as  well  have  been 
created  perfect  in  the  first  place. 


14  A   Tale    Half    Told. 

Now  at  no  period  of  my  existence  have  I  been 
thankful  for  Being.  Therefore  in  giving  me  lif^ 
a  great  wrong  Avas  perpetrated. 

Somewhere,  in  the  Beginning,  some  one  made  a 
mistake.  Wliether  that  some  one  was  I,  impreg- 
nable and  invulnerable,  or  some  grim  and  silent 
Being,  in  Whose  image  I  am  made,  and  of  Whom 
I  am  but  a  pale  copy — neither  I  who  write,  nor  you 
who  read,  can  for  a  certainty  determine.  That  I 
do  exist,  will,  in  the  ensuing  pages  be  illustrated 
with  the  greatest  fullness:  the  responsibility  for 
my  being  is  another  question.  If,  by  my  own 
volition,  I  forsook  oblivion  to  enter  upon  this 
common  tragedy  we  know  as  life,  then  I  am  the 
arbiter  of  my  destiny  and  deserve  my  fate;  but 
if  Another  has  fashioned  and  shaped  my  history 
then  He 

Well!  and  then? 

I  wish,  however,  that  you  should  hold  this  ex- 
tenuating circumstance  in  your  mind.  In  either 
case  I  am  l-in  of  yours.  As  all  things  are  relative, 
sliding  to  and  fro  on  the  scales  of  compensation 
from  good  to  evil,  sin  to  salvation,  so  is  there  a 
connecting  link  between  your  rectitude  and  my 
want  of  it;  your  integrity  and  my  deceit.  Re- 
member we  are  all  acting  from  the  half-lights 
our  manifold  experiences  are  yielding;  we  are 
abortions  struggling  toward   one  end — ]\raturity! 

But  why  should  I  ask  you  to  remember?  Few 
of  you  are  better  than  I;  many  of  you,  perhaps, 
not  as  good.  'Not  you  nor  I  can  sound  the  depths 
of  another's  soul.  The  soul  is  an  abyss  unexplored, 
unfathomable !  We  speak  of  natures  that  are  shal- 
low;, but  can  we  penetrate  the  real  workings  of 


A   Tale    Half   Told.  15 

another's  brain?  So  I  shall  not  seek  to  excuse 
myself,  or  deny  that  I  knew  upon  descending  to 
the  great  room  that  evening  that  my  place  was 
not  in  that  house.  I  knew  then,  as  you  will 
know  later. 

The  President  had  taken  the  house  formerly 
occupied  by  the  royal  family.  The  apartment  I 
now  entered  was  a  large  saloon  with  several  wide 
windows,  two  of  which  opened  into  an  unpaved 
court.  A  small  part  of  the  floor  extending  from 
the  door  to  the  opposite  side  of  the  room  was  six 
or  seven  inches  lower  than  the  rest ;  this  was  paved 
with  white  and  black  marble  and  little  pieces  of 
red  tile,  and  had  in  the  centre  a  fountain  which 
played  into  a  small,  shallow  pool  lined  with  col- 
ored marble.  The  raised  part  of  the  floor  was 
of  common  stone  almost  hidden  by  heavy  mats; 
fronting  the  door  was  a  marble  shelf  about  four 
feet  high,  supported  by  three  arches  faced  with 
colored  marble.  I  do  not  know  to  what  use  this 
was  originally  put,  but  now  there  flashed  from  it 
an  unlioly  array  of  bottles,  and  two  cut-glass  de- 
canters. As  I  entered,  the  room  the  President  was 
engaged  in  pouring  into  a  glass  a  portion  of  one 
of  the  bottles,  which  he  drained  before  turning 
around. 

It  was  thus  I  saw  him  for  the  second  time. 

Mrs.  Crane  advanced  to  meet  me. 

"Miss  Demorest,"  said  she,  "allow  me  to  pre- 
sent you  to  my  husband;  Robert,  this  is  Miss 
Demorest,  Agnes'  teacher  of  languages." 

I  held  out  my  hand  and  Mr.  Crane  bent  over 
•it.  I  felt  queerly  when  my  fingers  touched  his 
palm. 


:i6  A   Tale    Half    Told. 

We  sat  down  to  dinner,  and  I  would  liked  to 
have  studied  the  faces  of  my  employers,  but 
every  time  I  looked  at  the  President  he  was  look- 
ing at  me.  Now  I  knew  myself  to  be  clever  above 
the  average,  and  never  allowed  an  opportunity  pass 
of  airing  ray  superior  intellectual  equipments,  but 
something  in  the  brilliant,  smiling  eyes  of  Mrs. 
Crane's  husband  kept  me  constantly  shifting  my 
gaze  from  his  face  to  hers  to  see  if  she  be  ob- 
servant.    I  was  unable  to  determine. 

He  seldom  smiled,  except  for  his  eyes ;  there  was 
a  certain  mesmeric  charm  in  his  face.  He  looked 
older  in  evening  dress  and  bareheaded  than  when 
spurred  and  hatted.  When  not  speaking  there 
were  set  lines  about  his  lips. 

That  night  alone  at  my  chamber  window  I 
watched  the  stars  go  out,  one  Ijy  one. 


A    Tale    Half   Told.  17 


CHAPTEE  III. 

I    MAKE    THE    ACQUAINTANCE    OF    THE     NEXT    IN 
LINE    OF    THE    HAWOUITIAN   E:INGS. 

The  next  day  after  hours,  I  was  arranging  the 
papers  on  my  desk  in  the  school-room  when,  after 
a  light  rap,  the  door  opened  and  Mrs.  Crane  thrust 
in  a  queenly  head. 

"I  hope  I  have  not  disturbed  you,"  said  she 
sweetly,  "but  I  wanted  you  to  know  that  we  ex- 
pect a  distinguished  guest  to  dinner,  so  we  had 
best  look  our  j)rettiest." 

Promising  to  do  my  utmost  I  left  the  school- 
room with  her  and  betook  myself  to  my  own  apart- 
ment. 

I  have  called  myself  clever ;  now  if  I  say  that  I 
am  decidedly  distinguished  in  appearance,  you, 
not  being  able  to  see  for  yourselves  that  I  speak  but 
the  plain  truth,  will  think  me  a  conceited  little 
animal.  Yet  it  were  not  justice  to  my  deceased 
parent,  of  whom  I  am  an  exact  copy  in  female 
edition — did  I  omit  telling  you  that  he  was  a 
very  fine  looking  man. 

I  piled  my  hair — which  some  are  malicious 
enough  to  call  red — high  on  my  head,  and  donned 
a  trained  dress  of  white  mull  shot  with  black.  My 
cheeks,  always  pale,  struck  me  as  being  unusually 
so  this  evening,  so  I  touched  them  with  rouge — 
then  rubbed  it  off  again  as  I  recalled  the  look  in 


i8  'A   Tale    Half    Told. 

Mr.  Crane's  eyes.  I  then  sat  down  at  the  window 
to  polish  my  nails. 

It  still  lacked  twenty  minutes  of  the  dinner  hour 
when  I  descended  to  the  great  saloon.  A  gentle- 
man sat  almost  in  the  centre  of  the  room,  his  back 
to  the  door;  opposite  him  was  Mr.  Crane,  his  eyes 
fastened  on  the  entrance.  He  rose  to  his  feet  on 
seeing  me. 

I  advanced  into  the  room  and  he  took  a  step 
toward  me,  holding  out  his  hand.  I  placed  my 
own  within  it. 

"I  trust  you  are  well.  Miss  Demorest;  you  cer- 
tainly look  it." 

I  wondered  if  I  had  rubbed  off  all  the  rouge, 
and  involuntarily  I  passed  my  left  hand  across 
my  cheek,  then  looked  at  the  inside  of  the  finger 
tips.  This  tell-tale  act  provoked  a  laugh  from 
both  men. 

"Miss  Demorest,"  said  Mr.  Crane,  "this  is 
Kameli  Roohk,  our  Minister  of  the  Interior." 

The  gentleman  had  risen  with  his  host,  but  I 
had  not  so  much  as  glanced  at  him  on  ray  en- 
trance ;  I  now  turned  to  place  my  hand  in  his 
extended  right  Avhon  to  my  surprise  I  found  it 
still  resting  in  that  of  Mr.  Crane.  I  solemnly 
declare,  wise  people,  I  had  forgotten  that  he  held 
it.  I  did  not  blush ;  I  felt  no  embarrassment  as 
T  looked  up  to  his  face,  then  into  that  of  his  guest, 
and  bowing  to  the  latter,  said: 

"How  do  you  do.  Prince  Kameh?" 

The  prince  smiled  at  the  readiness  with  which 
I  gave  him  a  title  so  inconsistent  with  a  republic, 
and  bowing  politely,  looked  straight  into  my  eyes 
and  said: 


'This  is  Kameh   Rookh,"  etc. 


A  Talc   Half   Told.  19 

"How  do  you  do,  Miss  Demorest?" 

Mr.  Crane  released  my  hand. 

The  superb  physique  of  Kameh  Roohk  dwarfed 
the  slender,  graceful  form  of  the  young  Presi- 
dent. If  grandeur  of  mien,  elegance  of  manner, 
majesty  of  gait  make  blood  royal,  then  was  he  most 
truly  prince.  The  brown  blood  of  his  mother 
mixed  with  the  white  of  his  father  gave  his  skin 
an  golden  hue.  In  plain  black,  with  a  scarlet  rib- 
bon, from  which  hung  the  sparkling  insignia  of 
nobility  crossing  the  polished  white  of  his  bosom 
like  a  line  of  blood,  he  seemed  with  brown,  splen- 
did eyes  and  flashing  teeth  to  fill  the  whole  room 
with  his  great  physical  beauty. 

When  the  evening  was  over  and  the  President 
accompanied  him  down  the  steps  to  the  carriage, 
I  stood  in  the  hall  and  watched  them, 

Down  the  steps  the  lights  from  within  threw 
a  broad  ribbon  of  light  and  along  this  line  they 
passed,  side  by  side,  and  stopped  in  the  moonlight 
where  the  ribbon  ended.  The  departing  guest 
stood  just  in  the  moon's  rays,  uncovered,  for  he 
was  before  the  chosen  ruler  of  the  people.  In  the 
great  saloon,  under  artificial  lights,  he  had  looked 
the  Christian  gentleman ;  but  in  the  white  rays  of 
God's  arc-light  he  was  a  lustful  savage,  a  warrior, 
but  not  a  statesman. 

I  pictured  him  with  the  feathered  war  cloak 
of  his  fathers  wrapped  around  him;  with  his  war- 
riors and  chiefs  gathered  near,  and  his  wives  and 
concubines — numerous  as  the  ants  of  the  earth — 
covering  the  ground  round  about. 

Such  to  me,  looked  Kameh  Roohk,  newly  ap- 
pointed Minister  of  th3  Interior. 


20  A   Tale    Half    Told. 

And  before  him  was  the  President,  bareheaded, 
looking  up  to  the  superior  height  of  the  next  in 
line  of  the  Hawouitian  kings.  In  his  face  was 
seen  the  quiet  force  of  generations  of  civilized 
blood;  in  his  eyes  the  cool  steadfastness  seen  only 
in  the  eyes  of  sons  bred  of  a  father  who  is  husband 
to  one  wife.  So  might  have  looked  Napoleon  when 
standing  before  some  conquered  sovereign;  so,  to 
me,  looked  Eobert  Crane,  President  of  Hawouitia. 

I  returned  to  the  saloon,  and  sitting  down  at 
the  piano  began  aimlessly  drawing  my  fingers 
across  the  keys. 

"Play  this,"  said  Mr.  Crane,  entering  the  room 
by  a  low  window  leading  from  the  balcony,  and 
spreading  before  me  a  selection  from  "Lohengrin." 

"I  cannot  read  music,"  I  replied. 

"You  plav  by  ear?" 

*nVhat  little  i  play;  yes." 

*'Then  change  places  with  me  and  I  Avill  play  it." 

I  left  the  piano  and  began  turning  the  pages 
of  a  copy  of  "Dante's  Inferno,"  which  lay  upon 
the  table.  Mr.  Crane  struck  the  opening  chords, 
then  looked  over  his  shoulder  at  me. 

"Don't  5'ou  care  to  hear  it?"  he  asked. 

We  were  in  the  room  alone ;  I  looked  at  the 
book  beneath  my  hand,  then  back  at  the  door. 

"Come  here,"  he  said  softly. 

I  felt  his  tones  in  every  fibre  of  my  being.  I 
remained  motionless,  my  eyes  fastened  on  a  pas- 
sage in  the  book : 

"Love  caused  us  hotli  to  share  one  common  tomb: 
Hell's  lowest  depth "" 


A   Tale    Half   Told.  21 

"No?" 

The  tone  was  interrogative. 

"It  is  late,  and  I  must  go." 

"It  is  not  late  yet,"  said  he,  glancing  at  the 
clock  upon  the  mantel. 

I  began  moving  toward  the  door. 

"If  it  is  my  playing  which  frightens  you,"  re- 
marked he,  rising,  "we  will  close  the  piano." 

"It  is  not." 

"Then  what  is  it?" 

"It  is"— I  stopped. 

"Yes  it  is" — he  repeated. 

"It  isn't " 

We  took  a  step  toward  each  other. 

"No,  it  isn't,"  he  repeated  again. 

"It  isn't  your  playing." 

We  stood  close  together  now. 

"Not  my  playing,  what  then?" 

I  was  silent. 

"Me?" 

I  stood  quite  still  and  did  not  answer. 

"Is  it  me,  dear?" 

I  looked  up  at  him. 

"Are  you  afraid  of  me?" 

"No." 

"Of  what,  then,  or  whom?" 

"Myself." 

He  laughed  softly  and  put  a  hand  beneath  my 
chin,  lifting  my  face  to  the  light.  I  closed  my 
eyes  and  I  felt  my  cheeks  burn. 

"Mv  beauty." 

"Please  don't." 

"You  fear  me  also?"_ 

"Be  good  to  me." 


22  A    Tale    Half    Told. 

"I  am  good  to  you,  but  tell  me  how  I  can  be 
better?" 

"By  letting  me  go." 

"You  set  me  a  hard  task,  little  tyrant,  but  I 
can  deny  you  nothing,  and  if  you  really  wish  it 
you  shall  go ;  do  you  wish  it,  mine  ?" 

"I  wish  I  were  God!" 

"I  don't!"  he  declared  emphatically. 

"If  I  were  God,"  I  went  on,  not  heeding  him, 
"I  would  make  all  men  true,  all  women  pure,  and 
melt  treachery  into  love — if  I  were  God !" 

"Child,"  said  he,  and  he  was  the  first  to  call 
me  that  since  my  father's  death,  "sometimes  we 
meet  with  events  in  real  life  which  are  stranger 
than  fiction ;  and  sometimes  we  meet  with  men 
who  are  living  lies ;  if  you  knew  such  an  one  could 
you  love  him?" 

"It  would  depend  upon  the  nature  of  the  lie 
he  was  living." 

"A  lie  is  a  lie,  I  suppose  ?" 

"Yes,  but  extenuating  circumstances  might  pal- 
liate the   foulest  crime." 

"Sit  down,"  he  said,  placing  a  chair  for  mo. 

I  wished  to,  but  I  would  not. 

"No,"  I  replied  firmly,  "I  must  not  stay." 

"Promise  mc  one  thing  before  you  go,  will  vou  ?" 

"WTiat  is  it?" 

"Will  you  promise?" 

"Not  until  I  know  what  it  is." ' 

"Well,  then,  will  you  promise  to  trust  me  with- 
out questioning,  without  doubt ;  trust  me  im- 
plicitly  " 

"Trust  you  blindly,  in  fact,  witliout  reason  and 
without  rhyme?" 


A   Tale    Half   Told.  23 

"Precisely;  will  you  do  it?'' 

"You  are  asking  me  to  return  to  the  irration- 
ality of  my  infancy;  but  I  promise,  and  here  is 
my  hand." 

We  shook  hands. 

"Kameh  Eoohk,"  he  said,  coming  after  me  to 
the  door,  "do  you  admire  him?" 

"I  think  him  the  handsomest  man  I  ever  be- 
held !"  and  I  kept  on  my  way  to  the  stairs. 

"Does  beauty  carry  far  with  you?" 

He  was  at  the  stair  bottom,  one  foot  on  the  first 
step,  one  hand  on  the  bannister;  I  looked  down 
on  him  from  my  position  half  way  up. 

"Honor  carries  farther,"  I  replied,  and  I 
reached  the  floor  above. 


24  A   Talc    Half   Told. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

I    DO    A    SUM    IX    DIVISIOX. 

All  the  "u-orld  was  in  the  garden  of  the  Execu- 
tive Mansion.  That  is,  all  the  world  with  the 
exception  of  the  sheriff,  the  judge,  the  court  sten- 
ographer, and  three  lesser  individuals  who  were 
playing  an  interminable  game  of  croquet  upon 
the  courthouse  lawn. 

Over  the  stone  wall  separating  the  two  gardens 
tumbled  crimson,  yellow  and  white  roses,  scatter- 
ing their  petals  in  voluptuous  confusion  upon  a 
carpet  of  flowers.  Beyond  the  courthouse  could 
be  seen  the  road  marking  its  pale  way  between 
dull  brick  walks  swept  by  a  human  kaleidoscope 
flashing  by  in  its  changing  and  brilliant  march. 
Hawouitia  has  been  rightly  called  the  isle  of  many 
tongues.  Thick-lipped,  flat-nosed  Nubians  touched 
elbows  with  Persians  in  sheep-skin  hats;  oval- 
faced,  high-cheeked  Arabs,  with  white  eyeballs 
gleaming  out  of  dust-dark  faces  and  black  hoods; 
chocolate,  round-clieeked  Egj'ptians,  a  Soudanese 
wearing  a  red  fez,  swathed  in  white  linen ;  and 
shoulder  to  shoulder  with  a  jaunty  Spaniard 
stalked  with  measured  tread,  the  Bedouin  of  the 
desert,  in  picturesque  dress  and  veil  of  white,  blue 


A   Tale    Half   Told.  25 

and  green  dropping  gracefully  over  his  shoulder. 
The  scene,  together  with  the  heat  of  the  day,  re- 
minded me  of  my  first  glimpse  of  Alexandria, 
when  a  blinding  sun  beat  upon  Pompey's  Pillar 
rising  above  the  roofs  of  the  city,  and  the  Pasha's 
palace  and  harem  stretched  their  gardens  and 
palms  to  the  sea. 

I  leaned  against  the  trunk  of  an  orange  tree, 
and  Kameh  Eoohk  fanned  me  with  a  palm  leaf. 

At  the  foot  of  the  stone  steps  leading  to  the  bal- 
cony the  Eev.  Eichard  Crane,  brother  to  the  Presi- 
dent, and  rector  of  the  Church  of  the  Advent,  was 
teaching  his  niece  the  Laws  of  Moses. 

"The  rector  is  a  pretty  fellow,"  I  said,  studying 
the  refined,  gentlemanly  countenance  of  the  minis- 
ter as  it  bent  over  the  child. 

"Yes,"  returned  Kameh  Eoohk,  dryly,  "it  is  a 
pity  that  he,  too,  is  a  married  man." 

I  looked  coolly  at  him. 

"That  makes  no  difference,"  I  rejoined. 

"Oh,  indeed !  Well,  I  have  been  bi'ought  up  to 
think  that  it  did." 

"You  have  been  reared  in  error "  replied  I 
calmly.     , 

His  eyes  held  mine. 

"You  do  not  mean  that." 

"That  is  for  me  to  know,"  said  I,  with  a  cadence 
of  contempt  in  my  voice. 

"I  do  not  believe  you." 

On  the  table  near  by  stood  two  glasses  and  a 
decanter  of  iced  wine;  he  poured  wine  in  both 
glasses. 

"We  will  drink,"  said  he,  "to  your  better  self." 

Mr.  Crane  was  coming  toward  us;  the  sometime 


26  A    Tale    Half    Told. 

prince  lield  ono  glass  out  to  inc,  1  took  it,  and  he 
turned  to  find  the  other  already  in  the  hand  of  his 
chief. 

"We  drink,"  said  the  President,  hohling  his 
glass  to  mine,  "to  that  arrowed  god  who  works  the 
miracle  of  blending  two  sorils  in  one." 

The  rim  of  his  glass  kissed  mine,  but  before  the 
vibration  occasioned  by  their  contact  had  died  on 
the  air  Kameh  Roohk  spoke. 

"We  will  divide,"  he  said,  looking  at  me. 

I  raised  the  wine  to  my  lips  and  took  a  swal- 
low, then  held  the  glass  toward  him. 

"I  said  we  would  divide,"  he  repeated,  not  offer- 
ing to  take  it. 

"I  am  a  poor  mathematician,"  rejoined  I. 

"You  may  know  something  of  subtraction,"  he 
made  answer,  "but  you  know  nothing  whatever  of 
division." 

I  emptied  half  the  glass. 

"Are  you  drinking  the  long  life  of  Miss  Demo- 
rest  ?"  asked  one  of  a  group  who  now  joined  us. 

I  felt  depressed  and  ill  at  ease. 

"I  don't  care  for  a  long  life,  not  this  time,"  I 
answered,  "but  I  would  like  to  try  it  over  again; 
after  I  have  rested." 

"Well,  you  never  will,"  cried  the  sheriff's  wife, 

*'I  may  not,  but  that  docs  not  lessen  my  desire 
to  live,  and  live  again  until  such  time  as  this  per- 
son you  know  as  me  shall  represent  in  the  highest 
my  ideal  of  strength  and  beauty." 

"Wh}^,  what  do  you  want?"  she  gasped. 

"I  want  what  I  want,"  I  said  firmly. 

"You  want  what  you  want,  it  becomes  you  to  be 
thankful  for  what  3^ou  have !" 


A    Tale    Half    Told.  27 

"I  am  not  thankful ;  I  have  nothing  to  be  thank- 
ful for." 

"Nothing  to  be  thankful  for !  Why,  girl,  you  are 
crazy,  haven't  you  your  eyes?" 

"Eyes,  yes,  but  that  is  no  more  than  my  due; 
eyes  are  mine  through  the  divine  law  of  acquisi- 
tion.   I  am  not  thankful  for  what  belongs  to  me." 

"But  think  of  the  people  without  eyes." 

"I  am  not  to  blame  for  that/'  I  persisted,  stead- 
ily. 

"But  aren't  you  better  off  than  they  ?" 

"In  the  matter  of  eyes,  yes,  but  they  have  been 
done  out  of  what  belongs  to  them." 

"You  are  insane,"  declared  she,  with  conviction. 

"She  is  devilish,"  burst  out  the  rector's  wife. 

*'Are  you  sincere?"  inquired  the  rector,  who 
had  joined  us. 

"Perfectly;  I  may  be  crazy,  but  at  least  I  am 
sincere." 

"No,  you  are  not  crazy,"  he  said,  "you  are  far 
from  it." 

"No,  you  are  not  crazy,"  broke  in  Mrs.  Eichard 
again,  "you  are  wicked,  you  are  devilish ;  what  you 
need  is  a  sensible,  Christian  husband  to  keep  you 
in  order." 

Could  my  father  only  have  heard  her ! 

"I  am  not  imgrateful,"  I  hastened  to  add.  "I 
would  be  thankful  if  I  could  get  anything  that 
didn't  belong  to  me." 

"As  nearly  as  I  can  make  out,"  said  Kameh 
Eoohk,  "there  is  nothing  but  what  does  belong  to 
you." 

Alone  in  my  chamber  that  night,  I  sat  down  by 
the  window  to  think. 


28  A    Tale    Half    Told. 

Think !  of  what  use  were  it  to  think  ? 

Oh,  to  bo  a  fool ! 

Yet,  sta}-,  does  not  a  fool  think  ? 

Who  can  measure  the  subtilitios  of  the  human, 
brain?  When  it  loses  its  poise  does  it  cease  to 
think?  Visit  the  idiot.  Gaze  upon  the  mind  dis- 
traught— that  might}-  storehouse  of  accumulated 
knowledge — and  tell  me,  has  he  ceased  to  think  ? 

Of  what  use,  then,  to  be  a  fool? 

The  moon  rode  high.  She  rode  higher.  And 
higher  still  she  rode. 

I  set  his  wife's  face  before  me.  and  I  strained 
my  eyes  to  get  it  nearer — make  it  clearer.  I  called 
up  the  face  of  the  Minister  of  the  Interior,  and  I 
felt  the  fire  of  his  glance.  And  ever  between  these 
faces  and  mine  was  another.  And  I  could  rid  my- 
self of  it  never.  I  began  counting  the  jewels  in 
the  ceiling  of  night,  j^et  still  his  presence  clung  to 
me.  The  moon  began  her  descent.  I  watched  her 
golden  track  on  the  dimpled  waters  far  to  my  left, 
and  at  last  I  loft  her  resting  on  the  ridge  of  a 
mountain,  like  a  copper  ball,  and  locking  my  fingers 
tighter  and  tighter,  I  pressed  them  against  my  ach- 
ing eyes. 

He  was  with  me.  His  eyes,  pleading,  smiling, 
looked  into  mine.  His  hand,  accidentally,  many 
times  touched  my  own ;  he  was  at  my  side,  before 
me,  behind  me ;  I  felt  his  presence  in  my  heart,  in 
my  finger  tips,  tingling  along  each  nerve.  Laugh 
those  who  will.  Let  those  pity  who  will ;  for — for 
hours  I  journeyed  through  hell.  I  uncovered  my 
eyes.    The  moon  had  dropped  behind  the  mountain. 


A   Tale    Half    Told.  29 


CHAPTER  V. 

OUR   LESSONS   ARE   ADJOURNED, 

She  looked  a  queenly  rose  next  morning  when 
we  met  at  breakfast.  Her  complexion  is  the 
purest,  freshest  I  ever  beheld.  I  felt  a  bitter  con- 
tempt for  myself  as  I  caught  a  glimpse  of  my  own 
pale  cheeks  in  a  mirror  opposite.  I  could  have 
shrieked  and  torn  out  by  the  roots  the  hideous, 
glittering  hair  which  made  my  face  look  whiter 
than  the  linen  gown  I  wore.  In  the  old  days  I  had 
been  pleased  enough  when  my  father  praised  my 
eyes;  calling  them  "stars  in  a  well"  and  "duskily 
bright,"  but  now  they  looked  back  at  me  the  eyes  of 
a  wanton.  Hers  were  gra}',  soft  and  sparkling,  like 
a  lake  under  an  evening  sky.  I  lowered  mine 
quickl}'-  and  took  my  seat  at  table. 

As  she  stooped  to  kiss  Agnes  when  we  had  all 
risen,  I  glanced  at  her  husband — he  was  looking 
neither  at  her  nor  at  his  child,  but  at  me.  If  I 
was  pale,  he  was  equally  so;  his  eyes  were  gloomy 
and  restless.  I  stood  with  my  fingers  locked  be- 
hind me.  He  passed  back  of  me  and  pressed  them 
for  a  moment  with  his.  I  turned  my  face  to  him ; 
he  caught  his  under  lip  between  his  teeth  and 
uttered  a  half  groan.  Alarmed,  I  glanced  at  his 
wife ;  she  never  raised  her  head.  He  passed  to  the 
window. 

"I  am  glad  Robert  takes  an  interest  in  Agnes' 


30  A   Tale    Half    Told. 

studic?/'  remarked  Mrs.  Crane,  as  she  sat  in  the 
fichool-room  an  hour  later  listening  to  the  child 
bound  the  Republic  of  Hawouitia.  As  she  spoke 
the  door  opened  to  admit  the  President  and  the 
Minister  of  the  Interior. 

"Well,  Agnes,  how  are  the  lessons  coming  on?" 
inquired  the  latter,  picking  up  a  book  from  my 
desk.  "Do  you  think  Miss  Demorest  will  know  her 
alphabet  by  next  autumn  ?" 

"Xot  if  people  don't  stay  out  of  the  school-room ; 
she  told  papa  yesterday  when  he  asked  if  I  was  a 
good  little  girl  and  studied  hard,  that  it  was  not 
my  fault  that  last  week's  lesson  was  perfectly  sta- 
tionary." 

Mrs.  Crane  was  tying  a  vine,  leaning  from  the 
window  to  do  so.  The  President  bit  his  lip,  half 
smiling.  Kameh  Eoohk  did  not  look  at  us,  but 
straight  over  his  book  at  the  child. 

"Eeally !  ■  Now,  Agnes,  what  do  you  make  of 
that?" 

"That  we  have  too  many  visitors,"  returned  she 
promptly. 

"Bravo !"  cried  Mr.  Crane,  patting  her  head ; 
Kameh  Eoohk  sank  into  a  chair. 

"You  surely  do  not  mean  me,  Agnes  ?"  he  gasped. 

"Miss  Demorest  meant  papa,  but  if  it  fits  you, 
why,  wear  it." 

"I  fear  the  motive  power  has  been  small,  Agnes," 
smiled  her  mother,  drawing  in  her  head. 

This  woman  was  beyond  my  powers  of  compre- 
hension. The  glance  Kameh  Eoohk  threw  at  her 
was  dark,  cold  and  impassive  as  death. 

"Perhaps  Agnes'  want  of  progress  is  due  wholly 
to  the  incapacity  of  her  teacher,"  suggested  I. 


A"   Tale    Half    Told.  31 

"Oh,  if  you  put  it  on  that  score,''  said  Kameh 
Roohk,  "you  have  reduced  the  fraction  to  its  lowest 
terms,  and  there  is  nothing  more  to  be  said." 

"My  goodness !  Mr.  Prince  Kameh,"  exclaimed 
Agnes,  "Miss  Demorest  isn't  to  blame  for  what  she 
can't  help !" 

"Don't  hit  a  fellow  when  he's  down,  Agnes,"  I 
expostulated. 

"When  a  fellow  throws  himself  down  he  can 
hardly  expect  sympathy,"  laughed  Mr.  Crane. 

"And  thou,  too,  Brutus?"  and  I  flashed  him  a 
full  glance. 

It  was  the  first  time  I  had  looked  at  him  since 
he  entered,  although  I  knew  that  he  was  waiting 
for  me  to  do  so ;  now  the  meeting  of  our  glance 
swept  over  me  in  a  wave  of  fire.  He  clutched  the 
back  of  a  chair  as  though  to  keep  himself  where 
he  stood.    I  heard  Kameh  Eoohk  saying: 

"When  Miss  Demorest's  private  resources  fail 
she  falls  back  upon  the  great  and  gone." 

"They  are  generally  reliable,"  I  returned. 

"Yes,"  he  said,  and  his  cool,  splendid  glance 
never  wavered,  "it  is  only  in  the  living  we  need 
look  for  treachery.' 

"Let  us  hope  that  he  who  looks  for  it  may  not 
have  had  his  search  in  vain,"  put  in  Mr.  Crane, 
quietl}',  looking  at  his  visitor  with  a  peculiar  light 
in  his  eyes. 

"Even  in  the  human  breast  so  foul  a  M^eed  can 
not  flourish  without  detection." 

"Suppose  we  leave  its  discussion  to  those  capable 
of  understanding  it,"  said  Mrs.  Crane,  "and  indulge 
in  the  luxury  of  lunching,  since  neither  of  you  ap- 


32  A   Tale    Half    Told. 

pear  inclined  to  let  Miss  Demorest  teach  or  Agnes 
study." 

I  close  my  eyes  and  live  over  again  the  happen- 
ings of  those  few  weeks.  They  journey  through 
my  brain,  an  endless  and  weary  throng,  each  crowd- 
ing upon  the  heels  of  the  other.  Some  look  at  me 
with  malice,  some  in  mockery;  others  are  crimson 
and  lustful,  others  pale  with  despair.  x\.nd  I 
wonder  will  these  phantoms  live  when  I  shall  num- 
ber with  the  dead.  Will  they  greet  me  in  their 
several  ways  when  I  shall  walk  this  earth  again,  or, 
lying  locked  within  my  brain,  serve  as  knowledge 
to  lead  me  to  greater  error,  sorrows  which  know 
no  joy,  pleasures  wedded  to  pain? 

I  recall  that  afternoon ;  the  golden  sunlight,  tlie 
sapphire  sky,  the  dusky  brightness  of  the  waters. 
Mr.  Crane  playfully  fastened  in  my  hair  a  red 
rose,  which  Kameh  Roohk  darkly  hinted  was 
neither  a  match  nor  a  contrast.  The  Hawouitian, 
accordingly,  plucked  a  white  one  and  placed  it  be- 
side the  red. 

"Do  you  remember.  Miss  Demorest,  when  the 
fairies  dwelt  in  the  hearts  of  the  roses  ?''  asked  Mr. 
Crane,  taking  one  of  the  roses  from  my  hair  in 
order  to  show  me  the  exact  spot  in  which  the  some- 
time fairy  dwelt.  The  rose  did  not  look  full  blown, 
but  it  must  have  been  in  its  decline,  for  the  white 
petals  fell  apart  so  easily  at  the  touch  of  his  fingers. 
"That  was  when  you  were  a  very  little  girl,  and 
Eoohk  here  and  myself  were  pretty  boys  just  dis- 
covering our  muscle." 

And  the  two  men  smiled  at  each  other,  pleas- 
antly, contemptuously. 

Agnes  came  running  up  to  her  father  and  I 


A    Tale    Half    Told.  33 

took  the  red  rose  from  my  own  hair  and  run  its 
stem  through  one  of  her  long  curls. 

"If  a  fairy   stood  revealed  this  moment.   Miss 
Demorest,"  asked  Kameh  Eoohk,  "what  would  be 
your  first  request?" 
"Happiness." 

"But  that  would  leave  nothing  more  to  be  de- 
sired." 

"So  much  the  better ;  she  could  the  sooner  pass 
on  to  the  next." 

"But  suppose  the  next  wished  for  the  same 
thing?" 

"There  is  surely  happiness  enough  to  go  round." 
"That  depends." 

"On  what?  We  all  have  a  right  to  be  happy, 
have  we  not?" 

"Yes,  if  not  at  the  expense  of  another." 
"Hell !"  ejaculated  Mr.  Crane  as  he  run  a  thorn 
beneath  his  thumb  nail.     "I  beg  your  pardon,"  he 
hastened  to  add,  while  he  stanched  the  blood  with 
his  handkerchief. 

Mrs.  Crane,  who  had  been  called  indoors  to 
superintend  some  household  arrangements,  now 
came  to  inquire  if  I  would  like  to  visit  the  stores 
before  dinner,  as  she  had  some  purchases  to  make; 
and  a  little  later  she  and  I,  with  Agnes,  entered 
the  carriage  and  drove  away. 

Shopping  has  never  been  for  me  a  pleasure,  and  I 
was  content  to  sit  in  the  carriage  and  watch  the 
entire  comedy  of  a  customer  going  away  in  disgust 
and  being  called  back  by  a  handsome  brown  rascal 
in  white  trousers  and  muslin  shirt ;  and  going  away 
again,  and  happening  back  by  mere  accident,  and 
standing  treat  for  a  friendly  glass  of  raisin  and 


34  A   Tale    Half    Told. 

water;  and  in  the  end  making  liis  deal  under  such 
hot  protest  that  I  trembled  for  the  result  of  such 
overwrought  energy  for  both  sides. 

After  the  customer  Avas  gone  I  amused  myself 
with  watching  the  merchant  rearrange  his  dis- 
ordered wares,  placing  them  about  with  cunning 
skill  and  in  the  most  attractive  fashion — carpets, 
gold-embroidered  silks,  silver-embroidered  casli- 
meres,  gold  and  silver  and  chased  bronze,  sapphires, 
and  emeralds,  and  amber ;  a  world  of  cunning  won- 
ders.. 

When  Mrs.  Crane  returned  to  the  carriage  she 
was  accompanied  by  her  husband's  brother,  wlio 
was  also  the  spiritual  adviser  of  the  Crane  family. 
He  carried  Agnes  in  his  arms,  and  was  kissing 
the  tiny  hand  she  held  tight  against  his  lips.  The 
child  was  an  affectionate  little  creature,  very  fond  of 
her  father,  but  passionately  devoted  to  her  uncle. 
I  have  known  her  to  lie  at  his  feet  an  hour  at  the 
time,  her  cheek  resting  against  his  polished  boot, 
only  raising  her  head  now  and  then  to  kiss  the 
hand  he  alwaj's  kept  within  her  reach.  Nor  did 
he  appear  to  love  her  less  than  she  loved  him. 
Coming  upon  them  unexpectedly  in  the  garden 
one  day,  I  found  tlio  child  asleep  on  a  cushioned 
bench  and  the  rector  kneeling  beside  her,  his  face 
buried  in  his  arms.  I  wished  to  retreat  without 
being  observed,  but  my  shadow  falling  across  the 
grass  roused  him ;  he  looked  up  and  rose  hastily  to 
his  feet.     I  bowed  and  passed  on. 

One  feature  I  remarked  as  strange,  was  his 
utter  lack  of  interest  in  the  child  when  his  wife 
was  about.    This  was,  perhaps,  due  to  that  lady's 


A   Tale    Half    Told.  35 

violent  attacks  of  hysteria  whenever  lie  noticed  any 
one  in  the  room  but  herself. 

The  Reverend  Eichard  greeted  me  pleasantly, 
and  after  placing  Agnes  beside  me,  helped  Mrs. 
Crane  into  the  carriage. 

"Look,  Miss  Demorest !  what  Uncle  Eichard 
bought  me,"  and  Agnes  emptied  the  contents  of  a 
huge  bag  upon  the  cushions. 

There  were  toys,  silks  and  shawls,  and  copper 
and  bronze ;  beads  of  amber,  gold  and  shell ;  fringes 
and  sashes  and  silken  hose,  and  a  pair  of  pointed- 
toed  slippers,  beaded  and  very  gay.  The  shopman 
who  followed  deposited  Mrs.  Crane's  purchases 
under  the  seat,  bowed  low,  touching  the  ground 
with  the  palm  of  his  hand,  and  disappeared  again 
inside  his  shop,  and  we  bade  the  rector  good  day. 

We  drove  home  while  the  glow  of  the  sun  was 
upon  the  violet  hills,  touching  their  summits  with 
gold,  while  their  sides  and  bases  became  heavily 
purple.  These  alone  were  dark  of  all  about  me — 
these  and  my  thoughts;  for  as  the  sun  went  down 
shining  to  the  last  as  at  midday,  the  full  moon 
came  up  from  the  east  over  the  minarets  and 
domes  of  the  town,  flooding  the  streets  with  pale 
silver. 


36 


A   Tale    Half   Told. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  SHADOAV  OF  COMIXG  EVENTS. 

Kameii  Eooiik  sat  upon  the  balcony  with 
Mr.  Crane ;  both  were  smoking.  I  would  have 
gone  directly  to  my  room  to  dress  for  dinner,  for 
it  was  past  the  hour,  but  Mrs.  Crane  insisted  I 
should  stop  while  she  displayed  her  purchases.  In 
passing  through  the  garden  I  had  broken  a  gera- 
nium bloom  of  uncommon  beauty,  each  petal  being 
without  a  flaw;  Kanieli  Eoohk  remarked  its  per- 
foctness. 

Both  men  had  risen  on  our  approach  and  now 
leaned  against  the  railing  of  the  balcony  facing  us ; 
the  President  on  my  left.  Ins  Minister  on  my  right. 
I  held  the  flower  toward  the  latter. 

"Take  it,"  I  said,  "I  broke  it  for  you." 

He  looked  me  coolly  in  the  eye. 

"Give  it  to  Crane,"  he  replied ;  "he  will  give  it 
to  me." 

I  gasped  almost  audibly  and  the  smile  froze  on 
my  white  lips.  Mrs.  Crane  was  gathering  up  her 
purchases,  her  face  calmly  serene  as  ever.  "What 
manner  of  woman  is  this?"  I  thought,  as  I  left 
the  trio  there. 

There  is  about  me  a  keen  artistic  sense.  I  am 
struck  with  the  poetical  fitness  of  things.  Nothing 
could  seem  to  me  more  eminently  right  and  in  its 
proper  place  than  my  friendly  and  brilliant  repar- 


A    Tale    Half    Told.  37 

tee  with  Kameh  Eoohk  after  his  incomparable  af- 
front of  an  hour  before.  During  dinner  every  one 
was  in  high  spirits;  my  enemy  the  most  jubilant 
of  any,  and  I  the  gayest  of  all.  I  felt  as  a  man  must 
who,  having  played  high  and  lost  all,  recks  little 
who  wins  that  which  he  has  so  improvidently 
squandered. 

After  dinner  I  played  two  games  at  billiards 
with  Mr.  Crane,  and  won  both;  I  pooled  with 
Kameh  Eoohk,  and  took  the  pool.  I  sang  French 
ditties  and  wild,  weird  Arabic  love  songs,  with 
my  eyes  on  Minister  Roohk's  and  my  hands  on  tlio 
piano  keys ;  and  I  laid  myself  out  with  great  ahan- 
don.  My  heart  was  filled  with  hatred  of  Kameh 
Eoohk.  I  could  have  killed  him  where  he  stood, 
and  buried  him  in  his  immaculate  linen  and  bril- 
liant badge  of  nobility.  I  wanted  to  shriek  in  his 
beautiful  face,  with  its  golden  skin  and  glittering 
teeth.  I  wished  that  the  long  black  lashes  might 
turn  inward  and  put  out  the  gleaming  eyes.  But 
I  smiled,  and  shot  opaque  glances,  and  kept  him 
enthralled  at  my  side.  I  knew  that  Mrs.  Crane 
was  smiling  and  that  the  President's  gaze  con- 
stantly followed  me,  but  I  kept  on  until  my  cheeks 
burned  and  I  was  drunk  with  the  part  I  played. 

Coffee  was  served,  and  Mr.  Crane  brought  me 
mine  where  I  sat  at  the  piano.  Kameh  Eoohk  was 
obliged  to  go  for  his,  and  we  were  left  for  a  mo- 
ment alone. 

Again  I  say  that  I  shall  not  seek  to  excuse  my- 
self. You  may  think  what  you  please,  Evil  World ; 
what  are  you  that  you  should  censure  act  of  mine? 
"Let  him  who  is  without  sin  cast  the  first  stone." 
On  these  pages  is  shadowed  the  tragedy  of  liumau 


38 


A    Tale    Half   Told. 


treachery — is  shadowerl  only — for  the  duplicity  of 
the  human  heart  has  never  been  measured.  Human 
nature  is,  in  my  opinion,  a  colossal  monument  of 
deceit,  fashioned  layer  upon  layer  by  a  cunning 
hand.  Why !  the  race  would  drown  in  its  own 
subtilities  were  it  not  for  a  something  within  each 
breast  which  is  forever  true,  and  which,  did  we 
but  heed  it  as  we  ought,  would  keep  us  from  play- 
ing false  to  any  man.  It  is  the  spark  which  is 
destined  to  outgrow  the  sin  of  Adam,  and  which 
some  time,  somewhere,  must  answer  every  question 
put  by  monad  or  man  from  the  foundation  of  the 
world.  I  am  leaving  this  writing,  I  say,  hoping 
that  some  day  it  will  prove  of  use  to  me.  In  it 
I  shall  not  reveal  in  their  nakedness  all  my  emo- 
tions ;  neither  my  thoughts  in  their  entirety,  but 
my  acts,  all  those  having  any  bearing  on  this  nar- 
rative, shall  be  recorded  here. 

I  knew  that  he  had  been  waiting  for  a  word 
with  me  and  I  began  idly  to  strike  the  keys  with 
one  hand  that  he  might  speak  without  being  over- 
heard of  the  others,  while  I  held  my  cup  in  tlio 
other. 

"The  royalists  are  rising,"  he  said. 

I  struck  a  louder  note  and  took  a  sip  of  enfTi^f. 

"What  do  vou  mean?*' 

"Just  before  dinner  news  was  brought  me  of  a 
conspiracy  among  the  nobles  in  the  province  of 
Oaue." 

I  looked  up  and  in  his  eyes,  he  looked  down 
and  into  mine. 

"Will  this  mean  civil  war?"  I  asked. 

"Tlie  Republic  may  be  able  to  crush  it  without 
much  bloodshed." 


'A   Tale    Half    Told.  39 

"If  the  monarchy  should  be  restored  ?" 

"The  President  of  the  Eepublic  would  be  one 
of  two  men." 

"A  dead  or  a  missing  one  T' 

He  nodded. 

"Does  she  know  ?"  I  demanded,  setting  down  my 
cup  and  playing  with  both  hands. 

"Not  yet,  but  she  will  not  be  greatly  surprised 
as  she  has  passed  her  life  here  and  knows  the  in- 
stability of  government  among  a  mixed  people; 
political  eruptions  occur  daily  in  this  part  of  the 
globe,  and  revolutions  are  as  common  as  elections." 

"I  should  not  care  to  govern  so  fickle  a  people," 
I  said,  curling  my  lip. 

"They  must  be  educated  into  fidelity,"  he  re- 
plied, and  I  noticed  for  the  fiftieth  time  the 
squareness  of  his  chin,  and  the  steadiness  of  his 
eyes.  "But  I  was  going  to  ask  if,  should  it  happen 
that  I  am  unseated,  and  disgraced,  and  obliged 
to  flee  for  my  life,  you  would  go  with  me?" 

I  raised  my  head  to  answer,  but  Kameh  Eoohk 
stood  beside  us. 

I  went  with  the  ^linister  into  the  great,  cool 
hall  with  its  plain  white  tiles  and  walls  hung  with 
coarse  linen  of  subdued  coloring,  and  sat  down 
upon  the  sill  of  an  open  window — for  I  am  lym- 
phatic by  temperament,  and  like  my  ease.  My 
enemy  leaned  against  the  casing  by  me,  his  hands 
in  his  breeches  pockets. 

"If  you  meant  this,"  he  began  at  once,  "I  should 
have  nothing  in  life  left  to  wish  for." 

"Except  the  crown  of  a  restored  kingdom,"  sug- 
gested I. 

He  looked  me  over,  head  and  foot. 


40  A    Tale    Half    Told. 

"You  arc  jesting/'  rejoined  he.  "l^ut  there  is 
many  a  truth  spoken  in  like  vein.'' 

"Tlie  crown  of  a  king  ill  fits  the  imagination 
of  a  high  official  of  a  republic,"  I  said  coldly. 

"Perhaps  it  may  better  fit  his  head?"  he  replied, 
darkly. 

"Treachery,"  I  remarked,  meaningly,  "is  the 
foulest  weed  that  can  grow  in  the  human  breast." 

"It  is  a  growth  the  most  common  of  any." 

"A  traitor  has  been  knowni  to  meet  his  deserts 
from  a  republic  as  well  as  from  a  king,"  I  went 
on. 

"The  victor  is  never  the  traitor." 

"How  can  one  be  certain  that  he  will  be  victor  ?" 

"He  takes  his  chances ;  governments  change  with 
the  m.inds  of  men." 

I  looked  up  from  the  contemplation  of  my  shoe. 

"IMiat  do  you  mean?"  I  demanded. 

""\Yliat  do  3-ou  mean?" 

"I  asked  the  question  first." 

His  answer  was  irrelevant. 

"You  are  the  deepest  woman  I  ever  met." 

"Thank  you." 

"Or  the  most  shallow." 

I  cot  on  my  feet,  and  1  bowed  to  the  floor. 

"This  is  tlie  most  kingly  compliment  of  all," 
and  I  reseated  myself, 

"What  is  there  about  you,"  he  went  on  in  the 
same  low,  even  tone,  "that  ensnares  the  senses, 
while  the  reason  cries  you  utterly  worthless?  You 
appeal  to  every  sense  but  the  soul,  and  that  you 
do  not  reach,  for  you  are  without  one." 

That  I  should  sit  here  and  listen  to  such  lan- 
guage did  not  strike  me  as  strange.    Had  he  called 


A    Tale    Half    Told.  41 

me  'Tiarlot/'"'  "'wanton,"  "bibbler,"  I  would  not  have 
resented  it.  The  woman  of  the  streets  soon  grows 
accustomed  to  her  place  in  the  estimation  of  men, 
and  cares  little  for  the  epithets  hurled  at  or  against 
her.  Neither  do  they  tend  to  raise  her  morals  or 
help  her  to  a  higher  life.  My  hands  and  feet  grev/ 
cold,  but  my  spirit  was  not  touched,  nor  my  feel- 
ings wounded.    I  felt  the  contempt  of  his  gaze. 

"Poor  Crane !"  he  said  at  length. 

"He  is  happier  than  you !"  I  retorted. 

"I  know  it,  for  you  love  him." 

I  stepped  through  the  window  to  the  balcony. 

He  followed. 

"You  love  him,"  he  persisted. 

I  buried  my  face  in  my  hands. 

"He  has  a  wife,"  he  went  on,  "worthy  his  high- 
est and  purest  affection,  and  a  child  for  his  con- 
cern. Would  it  not  be  better  to  try  and  love  some 
one  else,  some  one  whom  there  would  be  no  sin  in 
loving,  one  who,  perhaps,  might  be  able  to  make 
you  the  first  lady  in  the  land? " 

Oh,  how  I  hated  him ! 

" You  have  the  magnetism  which   cements 

nations,  rules  parliaments,  and  makes  ajid  unmakes 
kings.  With  you  for  queen  no  people  would  de- 
throne their  king." 

I  dropped  my  hands  upon  the  balcony  rail. 

"Are  you  looking  for  a  political  ally  or  a  wife?" 

"The  one  is  synonymous  with  the  other;  but  in 
you  I  seek  first  of  all  the  wife." 

I  drew  myself  to  my  full  height. 

"Had  you  asked  for  the  wife  simply,  I  must 
have  answered  you  as  woman  answers  man, — but — 
in  consideration  of  the  combination  offered,  my  re- 


42  A   Tale    Half    Told. 

ply  is,  I  am  in  the  pay  of  the  President  of 
Hawouitia.'' 

"You  can  leave  his  pay  to-night ;  I  will  take  you 
to  my  relative,  the  chief-justice,  and  to-morrow 
you  will  give  me  your  answer." 

I  looked  deep  into  the  shadowed  court  below. 

"The  chief-justice,  the  minister  of  the  interior, 
the  discontented  nobles — truly  the  President's  po- 
sition is  an  enviable  one  !" 

"Come,''  he  pleaded,  holding  his  dark  face  to 
mine. 

"No,  stay,"  said  the  rich,  persuasive  tones  of 
Mr.  Crane,  and  he  stepped  through  the  window 
behind  us. 

His  cheeks  were  as  riclily  bronze-red  as  ever,  his 
forehead  white  as  his  linen.  By  no  shade  or  tone 
could  I  tell  how  much  he  had  heard.  I  looked  at 
the  two  men,  and  the  two  men  looked  at  each  other 
with  a  steady  and  insolent  stare. 

"There  is  an  hour  for  arriving,"  said  the  Presi- 
dent, consulting  his  watch,  "and  an  hour  for  re- 
tiring." 

"I  am  aware  of  that,"  replied  his  visitor  without 
moving. 

I  turned  and  entered  the  house  alone,  leaving 
them  together  outside. 


A   Tale    Half   Told.  43 


CHAPTER  VII. 

IN    WHICH    OUR   LIPS   MEET. 

Never  had  my  duties  seemed  so  laborious  as  on 
that  next  morning.  Agnes  was  more  inattentive 
than  usual,  and  when  not  inattentive  she  was  dis- 
obedient. Everything  seemed  following  the  trend 
of  its  own  inclinations.  Around  the  school-room 
window  morning-glories  grew  in  mad  luxuriance, 
spreading  wide  their  blossoms  of  celestial  blue ;  the 
brilliant  scarlet  flower-leaves  of  the  Poinsetta 
beckoned  to  the  tall  palms  in  the  garden  beyond, 
and  all  the  air  was  freighted  with  a  still  excitement. 

Softened  by  distance,  the  street  cries  came  to 
my  ears.  Sellers  of  pickles,  pretzels,  melon-seeds, 
sherbert,  raisin  and  water,  cake,  lemon  and  roses,  in 
an  indistinct  murmur;  and  above  them  the  clank 
of  a  sabre  as  a  soldier  passed  along. 

But  as  there  is  an  end  to  all  things,  good  or  bad, 
so  was  there  to  this  day's  work.  Agnes  went  leap- 
ing out  of  the  school-room  imitating  the  cry  of  a 
donkey  boy,  and  I  sat  down  by  the  window  to  rest 
awhile  and  watch  the  sun  set.  I  like  to  watch  the 
decline  of  day;  there  is  something  which  appeals 
to  the  sensuous  part  of  my  being  in  the  voluptu- 
ous caress  of  the  setting  sun.  He  is  so  inflamed 
with  passion.     His  arrogance  is  past;  we  can  al- 


44  A^   Tale    Half    Told. 

most  forget  the  tyrann}'  of  his  noonday  reign  in 
the  tenderness  of  his  departing  kiss.  Then  there 
are  his  last  languishing,  enticing  glances  as  he 
sinks,  blood-red,  to  his  bed  of  gold;  then  slowly, 
slowly,  his  eyelids  droop;  his  embrace  slackens, 
the  vermillions  fade  to  a  dnll  amber,  the  purples 
to  bhiish-gray ;  and  by  and  by  the  great  pulse 
of  Nature  cools,  a  soft  radiance  falls  upon  the 
darkening  earth.  It  is  a  benediction ;  his  last 
waking  thought  ere  he  courts  slumber  the  while 
he  dreams  of  the  dawn  and  her  virgin  charms. 

At  this  hour,  in  this  mood,  I  do  not  think.  I 
abandon  myself  to  dolicinus  languor.  I  am  any- 
thing or  nothing.  What  matters  what  men  call 
me  so  long  as  to  myself  at  least  I  do  not  exist ! 
Only  that  exists  which  we  believe  exists — at  pres- 
ent, practical  people,  realists  who  love  to  dissect, 
I  am  nil ! 

But  there  is  an  after-time;  an  hour  when  the 
rose  no  longer  lingers  in  the  Wv:st,  and  the  sky 
pales  to  that  ashen  gray  which,  on  the  cheek  of 
man,  we  name  the  hue  of  death — ah,  then 

I  think  if  I  were  in  search  of  my  soul  that  I 
would  find  it  in  the  pallid  twilight  of  a  summer's 
evening.  We  know  that  the  road  to  the  finding 
of  one's  soul  is  through  the  Wilderness  of  Isola- 
tion ;  and  the  Wilderness  may  be  a  crowded  ball- 
room, it  may  be  a  busy  thoroughfare  in  the  heart  of 
some  great  city,  it  may  be  the  brilliant,  distracting 
lights  of  some  vast  theatre,  we  may  be  borne  to  its 
remotest  precincts  on  a  strain  of  music — in  short, 
the  Wilderness  of  Isolation  is  wher^  ono  finds 
oneself  alone. 

'*How  much  longer  are  you  going  to  keep  that 


A    Tale    Half    Told.  45 

painted  Jezebel  in  the  liouse,  Eleanor,  for  your 
husband  and  his  cabinet  to  make  love  to  ?" 

The  voice  was  that  of  the  rector's  wife,  and 
came  from  a  part  of  the  garden  commandino-  a 
view  of  the  window  at  which  I  sat.  As  I  could 
see  her  plainly  and  was  not  myself  concealed  I 
knew  that  she  could  see  me,  so  I  did  not  moVe. 
±5ehmd  her  chair  stood  a  black  woman  fannino-  her 
mistress.  ^ 

"You  wrong  the  girl,  Anne,"  came  in  the  soft, 
even  tones  of  Mrs.  Crane. 

"Don't  be  a  fool,  Eleanor.  She  and  the  President 
are  the  talk  of  the  town;  I  believe  the  present 
political  upheaval  is  due  primarily  to  that;  you 
know  it  is  right  in  black  and  white  in  the  journal 
o±  parliament  that  no  one  shall  hold  government 
oltice  who  keeps  a  mistress  or  gets  drunk;  and  the 
resolution  has  never  been  annulled." 

"But  Robert  doesn't  keep  a  mistress,  nor  does 
he  get  drunk." 

^  "What  do  you  call  it?"  shrieked  Mrs.  Richard. 
1  have  seen  him  drink  four  glasses  of  champagne, 
one  after  another  without  taking  breath  between; 
It  that  isnt  getting  drunk  I  would  like  to  know 
what  is ! 

^"But  have  you  ever  seen  him  drunk?" 
"All  the  worse!  When  there  is  no  limit  to  the 
amount  of  wme  a  man  can  hold,  we  ought  not  to 
expect  that  there  will  be  any  limit  to  the  num- 
ber of  women  he  will  be  after— and  his  brother  a 
minister  besides!" 

When  I  entered  the  saloon  before  dinner  the 
rectors  wife  put  up  her  eyeglass  and  studied  me 
carefully.     Mrs.  Crane  came  to  meet  me  and  laid 


46 


'A   Tale    Half   Told. 


an  arm  across  mj^  shoulders;  lier  color,  alwa3'S 
liigli,  was  now  a  vivid  carmine,  her  lips  were  drawn 
to  a  scarlet  thread,  and  her  eyes  were  very  bright. 
She  looked  straight  at  her  visitor,  and  her  visitor 
looked  straight  at  ns. 

Richard  Crane  arrived  shortly  after,  but  the 
President  was  late  and  we  postponed  dinner  an 
hour  waiting  for  him.  When  he  came  in  he  was 
a  trifle  pale,  but  very  calm,  and  sat  down  at  table 
in  his  canvas  coat.  He  informed  us  that  the  city 
was  filling  with  nobles  from  adjoining  provinces 
and  soldiers  under  leave  of  absence,  and  that  lie 
had  called  a  meeting  of  the  Executive  Council  for 
ten  o'clock  that  night. 

Several  times  during  the  evening  Mrs.  Eichard 
Crane  lost  consciousness.  Her  husband  was  at  all 
times  very  attentive  to  her,  and  rarely  addressed 
cither  his  brother's  Avife  or  myself,  but  on  this  oc- 
casion the  chief  topic  under  discussion  being  one 
of  common  interest,  he  found  himself  at  intervals 
addressing  one  of  us  directly,  and  then  his  wife 
showed  signs  of  fainting.  Her  green  e^'es  never 
left  his  face,  and  every  position  she  assumed  in 
the  great  chair  reminded  me  of  a  cat  about  to 
spring.  Behind  the  cliair  was  stationed  her  wait- 
ing woman  with  a  face  as  innocent  of  any  expres- 
sion as  her  mistress'  was  eloquent  of  misery  and 
suspicion.  I  found  myself  wondering  that  Mrs. 
Eichard  was  not  jealous  of  her  serving  woman,  for 
the  creature  was  a  handsome  wench  if  the  splendor 
of  her  cheek  was  that  of  midnight,  and  the  brow, 
turbaned  with  crimson  and  gold,  inky  and  pol- 
ished. 

The  black  woman  remained  motionless  through- 


A   Tale    Half   Told.  47 

out  the  evening,  excepting  for  her  hands ;  with  the 

one  she  wielded  a  huge  feather  fan,  the  otiier  she 
moved  baclv  and  forth  as  she  first  presented  then 
withdrew  a  bottle  of  smelling  salts. 

I  have  ever  been  of  the  opinion  that  a  black  skin 
is  as  thin  as  a  white  in  spite  of  much  authenticated 
proof  to  the  contrary;  that  the  blood  which  creeps 
along  the  veins  of  the  black  man  is  as  royal  as  that 
of  his  paler  brother;  they  walk  upright,  in  the 
manner  of  the  sovereign  race,  and  we  all  agree 
that  they  love  and  laugh  and  suffer  with  us.  But 
somehow  I  have  for  them  a  deeper  sympathy  than 
I  cherish  for  those  of  my  own  color ;  a  strange  pity, 
a  longing  to  touch  that  dusky  cheek  with  a  wand 
of  ivory.  So  as  I  watched  the  dark,  shining  arm 
move  to  and  fro  in  unbroken  and  measured  sway, 
I  suddenly  experienced  an  insufferable  sense  of 
weariness.  The  ceiling,  with  its  thin  strips  of  wood 
forming  curiously  complicated  yet  perfectly  regular 
patterns,  seemed  to  dance  above  me  in  bars  of  red, 
green,  blue  and  gilt:  and  then,  whether  it  was 
that  I  had  caught  the  disorder  of  the  lady  I  had 
been  so  contemptuously  eyeing  (for  I  am  prone  to 
epidemics  of  all  kinds)  or  whether  it  was  the 
measureless  stolidity  of  the  poor  creature  behind 
her,  I  know  not,  but  for  the  first  time  in  my  life 
I  fainted. 

They  told  me  when  I  recovered  that  I  was  un- 
conscious but  a  few  minutes,  but  it  seemed  to  me 
that  I  had  been  sleeping  for  weeks.  The  first  face 
upon  which  my  eyes  rested  was  that  of  Mrs.  Crane, 
and  its  delicate  pink  and  white  were  as  changeless 
as  ever,  yet  her  eyes  were  kind.  A  hand,  a  man's 
hand,  strong  and  white,  held  wine  to  my  lips;  I 


48 


A   Tale    Half   Told. 


then  became  aware  that  I  was  supported  by  the 
arm  of  the  President,  and  that  my  head  rested 
against  his  shoukler.  I  looked  np  and  saw  that 
he  was  pale  to  the  lips. 

"Eobert  was  greatly  alarmed,"  said  Mrs.  Crane, 
following  my  glance. 

The  arm  tightened  about  me,  and  I  felt  his  heart 
beat;  I  went  scarlet  under  her  eyes  and  made  a 
quicV  movement  to  free  myself,  but  he  only  held 
me  the  closer,  and  then  she  cast  a  nervous  glance 
over  her  shoulder  to  the  great  chair  and  said : 

"Be  careful."  Her  voice  was  inexpressibly  sweet 
and  low. 

Certainly  hers  was  a  marvellous  character ! 

I  now  looked  toward  the  chair.  Mrs.  Richard 
Crane  was  enjoying  another  period  of  oblivion, 
while  ISTemesis,  in  the  person  of  the  Ethiopian, 
waved  her  sword  of  feathers  above  her.  My  eyes 
wont  to  my  employer ;  she  had  moved  to  the  marbled 
fountain  and  stood  vrith  the  rector.  His  face  had 
undergone  a  marked  change;  its  listlessness  had 
given  way  to  eager  entreaty,  and  he  was  speaking 
in  low,  earnest  tones.  Her  face  never  changed.  It 
was  coldly,  distractingly  beautiful.  She  wore  a 
rich,  trailing  gown  of  sky-blue  crepe,  and  about 
her  waist  gleamed  a  narrow  belt  of  gold.  Her 
height  was  much  above  medium  and  her  crown 
of  brown  hair,  worn  high,  added  to  it;  she  was 
dipping  her  long,  slim  fingers  in  the  perfumed 
water.  Turning  suddenly  she  encountered  my 
gaze.  I  had  withdrawn  from  the  arms  of  the 
President,  and  now  rose  to  my  feet.  He  did  like- 
wise. She  came  to  us  and  laid  one  hand  trustingly 
upon  his  arm ;  after  a  moment  he  raised  his  slowly 


A   Tale    Half    Told.  49 

and  placed  it  upon  hers.  They  looked  quietly  into 
each  other's  eyes. 

What  manner  of  pair  was  this  ? 

And  this  ? 

I  passed  through  the  window  to  the  balcony,  and 
down  the  stairs  to  the  court.  The  beating  of  drums, 
accompanied  by  a  melancholy  chant,  drew  my  steps 
to  the  street ;  the  passage  was  constructed  with  one 
or  more  turnings  to  prevent  passersby  from  seeing 
into  the  court.  The  street  before  me  was  brilliantly 
illuminated  by  a  glare  of  burning  wood  which 
flamed  in  frames  of  iron  borne  high  on  a  staff. 
The  musicians  and  torch-bearer  were  preceded  by 
a  group  of  men,  advancing  in  the  form  of  an  oblong 
ring,  all  facing  the  ring,  and  all  excepting  three 
bearing  in  his  hand  one  or  more  candles,  and  some 
a  sprig  of  henna  or  some  other  flower.  At  frequent 
intervals  the  party  stopped  for  a  few  minutes  while 
a  boy  or  man  relieved  his  feelings  (and  to  judge 
from  the  sound  those  of  the  assembled  throng  as 
well)  in  an  agonized  wail.  Yes,  I  felt  sure  he  spoke 
for  the  crowd,  for  no  person  alone  could  suffer  what 
he  professed  to  and  live.  The  sound  of  the  drums 
and  the  shrill  notes  of  the  hautboy  ceased  during 
these  songs  (if  songs  they  could  be  called)  and  I 
felt  grateful,  for  together  they  would  have  been  be- 
yond human  endurance. 

Before  they  were  out  of  sight,  and  while  yet  the 
street  was  red  from  their  torches,  a  black  figure 
stopped  before  me,  and  seemed  in  its  noiselessness 
to  have  sprung  from  the  ground  at  my  feet.  He 
was  covered  with  a  long  black  robe  resembling  the 
usual  out-door  garment  of  an  Egyptian,  and  was 
crowned  with  a  cashmere  shawl   wound  tightly 


50  A   Tale    Half   Told. 

round  his  head.  I  had  been  standing  in  the  en- 
trance to  the  court,  my  dress  of  white,  barred  with 
black,  making  me  a  conspicuous  figure,  nor  do  I 
doubt  but  that  my  hair  served  well  as  a  headlight. 
At  the  sudden  apparition  my  heart  leapt  to  my 
throat,  and  I  bit  my  tongue  to  stifle  a  shriek.  Be- 
fore I  could  speak  there  was  borne  on  the  air  the 
clatter  of  hoofs  drawing  momently  nearer ;  I  looked 
at  the  dusky  face  before  me;  at  the  sunken  chest, 
the  hopeless  eyes,  and  pointed  to  the  shade  of  the 
court  beyond. 

The  riders  dashed  into  sight,  preceded  by  two 
torch-bearers ;  I  stepped  a  foot  outside  the  entrance 
and  their  light  fell  full  upon  me.  There  were  five 
in  the  party  and  they  all  drew  rein. 

"Now,  by  the  beard  of  the  Prophet !"  exclaimed 
one,  a  bearded  and  courtly  gentleman,  "whoever 
saw  a  fairer  face?'' 

He  spoke  in  broken  English,  and  I  greeted  him 
in  Arabic. 

"I  crave  thy  blessing,  father." 

"Alas,  daughter,  I  am  not  a  holy  man !  but  as 
surely  as  there  is  no  God  but  God  and  Mahomet 
is  His  Prophet,  thou'rt  already  blest  beyond  most 
women !" 

"Tell  me,  daughter,"  he  continued,  "hast  thou 
stood  here  long?" 

"Some  time,  father,  for  I  was  watching  a  bridal 
procession,  and  they  made  frequent  halts." 

Then  another  spoke. 

"God  preserve  us;  but  the  pig  escaped  under 
cover  of  the  procession  !" 

"No,  your  excel^.ency,"  I  said,  "I  saw  all  plainly, 
and  there  was  no  p*g  in  the  procession." 


A   Tale    Half   Told.  51 

"A  pig,  daughter,  but  one  thine  innocent  eyes 
could  not  perceive ;  saw'st  thou  any  one  else  pass  by, 
any  one  wlio  had  the  appearance  of  a  fugitive?" 

"A  brown  man,  father,  and  he  took  the  turning 
to  the  left." 

"We  have  him !  Farewell,  daughter,"  he  cried, 
turning  in  his  saddle,  "may  thy  beauty  preserve 
thy  virtue !" 

I  went  toward  the  house,  and  at  the  first  turning 
ran  against  Mr.  Crane.  Our  arms  extended  slowly 
until  our  hands  met  and  we  faced  one  another. 
I  have  seen  much  handsomer  men,  but  never  one 
with  the  latent  charm  his  face  held  for  me.  In 
memory  I  see  him  often  as  he  looked  that  night; 
I  see  the  grave  lips,  the  smiling  eyes,  and  bronze- 
pale  cheeks.  From  standing  mute  with  clasped 
hands,  though  with  the  length  of  our  arms  between 
us,  we  seemed  without  moving  to  draw-  nearer  to- 
gether, as  two  points  of  steel  attract  each  other. 
He  may  have  gone  all  the  way,  I  may  have  covered 
two  feet  to  his  one,  I  do  not  know,  nor  does  it 
matter.  As  a  steel  magnet  placed  among  iron 
filings  compels  each  atom  to  adjust  its  course  in 
conformity  with  its  polarity,  so  did  the  blending 
of  our  souls  compel  the  atoms  of  our  bodies,  and 
we  found  ourselves  heart  to  heart. 

"I  love  you !" 

«I  love  you !" 

The  declarations  were  made  simultaneously,  and 
•without  shame  on  either  side.  He  drew  my  arms 
about  his  neck,  and  placed  his  own  about  me.  So 
we  stood,  breast  to  breast,  and  he  held  me  close, 
and  closer.  I  raised  my  face  and  closed  my  eyes; 
it  is  my  way  of  showing  tenderness. 


52  A   Tale    Half   TolH 

"Oh,  Eobert!'' 

"Thalia !" 

Our  lips  met. 

Again. 

And  again. 

There  was  measureless  yearning  in  the  exchange. 

"Let  me  go,"  I  pleaded. 

"I  cannot." 

I  took  my  arms  from  about  him,  and  buried  my 
face  in  my  hands ;  he  laid  his  cheek  against  them. 

"May  God  forgive  us !"  I  whispered. 

"We  love  each  other,"  was  what  he  said. 

"Your  wife,"  I  said,  and  my  voice  trembled. 

"I  have  no  wife — I  mean  never  mind  her;  it's 
him,  damn  him !" 

I  dropped  my  hands  and  stared  at  him  with 
open  mouth. 

"Have  none ! — him !"  I  repeated. 

He  gnawed  his  lip  savagely. 

"N"o,  her — I  mean  it — that  is — oh,  the  devil ! 
Thalia,  I  am  fettered  by  clankless,  invisible 
chains !" 

I  drew  away  from  him  and  locked  my  fingers 
before  me;  they  felt  cold  one  against  the  other. 

"She  is  so  noble,"  I  said. 

"Far  more  noble  than  you  dream." 

"Did  you  ever  love  her  ?"  I  asked. 

"Never!"  he  declared,  solemnly. 

"Then  why  did  vou  marry  her?" 

"Thalia,  I  am  not " 

A  step  rang  on  the  walk  behind  him  and  the 
rector  stood  by  his  side. 

"It  lacks  but  five  minutes  of  ten,  Robert,  and 
the  President  should  be  in  his  chair." 


A   Tale    Half    Told.  53 

Mr.  Crane  carried  my  hands  to  his  lips,  one  after 
the  other,  and  went  away  with  his  brother. 

Here  was  certainly  a  strange  family ! 

Meanwhile  the  dark  fugitive,  unknown  and  un- 
heeded, passed  forgotten  into  futurity. 


54  A   Tale    Half    Told. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE   DOWNFALL   OF    THE   REPUBLIC. 

Long  before  sunrise  next  morning  it  was  evi- 
dent that  some  public  excitement  was  at  liaud. 
Mounted  police  galloped  through  the  streets,  dis- 
persing groups  of  persons  knotted  together  on  cor- 
ners, and  arousing  all  the  dogs  of  the  cit}'',  who 
barked  their  disapproval  at  the  horses'  heels. 
Horsemen  dashed  from  the  Executive  Building  to 
printing  shops  and  back  again  with  papers  and 
posters  meant  to  rally  democracy  to  struggle  for 
its  rights.  From  the  steps  of  the  courthouse  stump 
speeches  were  being  made  without  cessation.  Ono 
orator  exhorts  his  kindred  to  stand  by  his  color,  to 
restore  their  king  and  uphold  the  dignity  of  his 
forefathers — "The  white  men  are  buying  all  your 
lands;  when  our  lands  are  gone  where  will  the 
brown  man  go?  To  the  sun?  To  the  moon?  To 
the  bottom  of  hell !  The  white  man  has  pushed 
the  red  man  to  the  edge  of  the  world;  he  has 
bought  his  kingly  rights  with  firewater,  and  his 
lands  with  painted  baubles ;  he  has  seized  the  black 
man  and  chained  him  to  his  galleys,  he  laughs 
at  the  yellow  man,  and  calls  him  heathen,  and  now 
he  comes  here  to  this  Babylon  to  crush  you,  my 
brothers,  with  the  iron  of  his  heel,     What  is  this 


A   Tale    Half    Told.  55 

constitution?  It  is  a  rotten  refuse  of  other  lands, 
made  by  a  handful  of  politicians,  of  sycophants, 
of  parasites !  Rally  round  the  old  flag,  boys,  long 
live  the  king !" 

"Which  old  flag  do  you  mean  ?"  called  some  one, 

"Fellow  Citizens  and  Fellow-sufferers !"  came  a 
voice  from  the  step  above,  "the  royalists  are  con- 
spirators against  the  rights  of  free  men ;  they  pro- 
pose transforming  the  government  into  an  absolute 
monarchy,  thereby  disfranchising  a  class  of  citizens 
who  pay  two-thirds  of  the  taxes;  be  not  deceived 
by  their  sophistries;  the  man  who  tries  to  mislead 
you  has  a  card  up  his  sleeve,  lumber  to  sell,  or  a 
hotel  to  build.  The  constitution  the  nobles  in- 
tend to  spring  upon  the  coimtry  bv  a  coup  d'etat 
will " 

A  left-handed  argument  from  the  opposition 
orator  invited  a  stinging  rejoinder  from  his  right, 
and  I  closed  my  window  to  shut  out  the  compli- 
ments they  exchanged. 

The  east  blossomed  into  crimson,  then  blue.  The 
summits  of  the  hills  became  silver  and  their  sides 
a  tender  pink,  and  still  the  President  had  not  re- 
turned. There  were  no  lessons  that  day.  We  sat 
together  on  the  balcony,  Mrs.  Crane,  Agnes,  and  I, 
and  watched  Phoebus  drive  his  golden  chariot 
across  an  azure  field.  Toward  noon  was  heard  a 
mingling  of  shouts  and  hisses,  and  presently  there 
came  down  the  street  a  motley  throng.  Cries  of 
"Long  live  the  Republic!"  "Death  to  serfdom!" 
were  answered  by  hisses  from  brilliantly  capari- 
soned nobles  riding  spirited  horses.  The  carriage 
containing  the  President  and  his  officers  made  its 
way  straight  through  the  crowd  and  stopped  at  the 


56 


A   Talc    Half    Told. 


gate  of  the  courtyard,  and  the  President,  pale  but 
vigorous,  rose  in  his  seat  and  took  off  his  hat. 

Cries  of  "Usurper !"  "Braggart !"  "Scum ;  Eng- 
lish Bull !"  "Yankee  Pig !''  were  drowned  by  cheers 
from  the  opposition  party.  In  the  crowd  could  be 
seen  white  women  in  thin  black  silks  waving  hand- 
kerchiefs and  3^ellow  women  in  white  muslins 
throwing  kisses  at  the  young  and  handsome  head 
of  a  tottering  republic.  The  President  was  speak- 
ing, but  we  could  catch  only  a  sentence  now  and 
then 

"The  head  of  a  civilized  people,  be  he  king  or 
president,  is  the  ruler  of  not  merely  one  race  or 
class,  but  of  all."  Cheers  and  hisses.  "For  twelve 
months,  in  spite  of  hostile  influences  from  with- 
out and  enemies  at  home,  the  Kepublic  has  main- 
tained peace  and  order,  administered  justice,  car- 
ried on  extensive  internal  improvements,  advanced 
education  and  kept  the  financial  credit  of  the  na- 
tion above  par  in  the  markets  of  the  world." 
Groans  and  derisive  laughter,  clapping  of  hands 
and  shouts,  and  then  we  heard  tlie  President's  voice 
again — "yet  a  handful  of  petty  kinglets  with  pri- 
vate and  selfish  interests  to  promote,  with  lands  to 
be  tilled  through  serfdom  and  debaucheries  to  be 
reveled  in  at  public  expense,  come  armed  to  the 
House  and  Senate  and  block  the  public  thorough- 
fares of  our  Capital."  More  cheers  and  hisses,  the 
clanking  of  sabre  and  spur  drowned  the  speaker's 
voice ;  when  next  we  heard  it  he  was  saying,  "and 
now  in  the  words  of  one  who  has  bequeathed  to  the 
world's  history  a  page  adorned  with  the  fadeless 
coloring  of  true  greatness,  'let  us  here  resolve  that 
this  nation  shall  have  a  new  birth  and  that  govern- 


A   Tale    Half    Told.  57 

ment  of  the  peoi^le,  for  the  people,  by  the  people 
shall  not  perish  forever  from  this  earth.'  " 

Before  he  had  finished  the  bells  of  the  city  were 
ringing  in  the  "Kestoration."  Heralds,  gorgeously 
arrayed,  dashed  along  the  streets,  flourishing  long 
staffs  decorated  with  ribbon,  and  proclaimed 
Kameh  Roohk  King.  The  Minister  of  the  Interior, 
who  had  the  preceding  night  been  removed  upon 
a  vote  of  want  of  confidence  passed  by  a  majority 
of  all  the  elective  members  of  the  legislature,  had 
taken  the  executive  chair  immediately  upon  the 
departure  of  the  President  and  his  council,  and 
the  Senate  and  House  were  now  in  the  possession 
of  the  royalists.  As  the  President  stepped  from 
his  carriage  to  the  brick  curbing  a  detachment  of 
cavalry  wearing  the  uniform  of  the  king's  guard, 
separated  itself  from  the  ranks  of  nobles,  and 
with  the  points  of  drawn  sabres  resting  on  the 
toe  of  their  boots,  surrounded  the  officers  of  the 
fallen  republic. 

"Gentlemen,  you  are  prisoners  of  the  King  of 
Hawouitia." 

The  words  were  followed  by  a  dead  silence. 
That  vast  multitude  seemed  hardly  to  breathe ;  then 
a  low  rumbling,  rising  gradually  to  a  fierce  howl, 
went  up  from  the  throats  of  the  crowd.  Shrieks, 
curses,  a  shower  of  dirt  and  stones;  the  clash  of 
steel,  the  sharp  report  of  a  rifle,  and  then  an  empty 
street  and  silence. 

During  the  afternoon  a  formal  message  arrived 
for  Mrs.  Crane.  The  King  deeply  regretted  the 
inconvenience  to  which  so  noble  a  lady,  and  one 
who  had  shown  herself  so  fitted  for  a  high  position, 
was  put,  and  offered  her  the  use  of  his  palace  for  as 


58  A^   Tale    Half    Told. 

long  a  period  as  would  be  required  to  make  other 
and  more  pleasing  arrangements,  and  he  would  in 
the  interim  establish  a  temporary  court  in  the 
Hotel  L'Occident,  Mrs.  Crane  declined  with 
thanks,  and  the  announcement  that  the  house 
would  be  vacated  and  ready  for  its  lord  before 
nightfall,  as  she,  her  child,  and  her  servants  would, 
for  the  present,  take  up  their  abode  with  the 
brother  of  the  President  of  the  late  Kepublic.  An 
hour  later  the  rector  called  for  his  brother's  fam- 
ily in  a  close  carriage ;  he  was  accompanied  by  two 
wagons  which  were  to  convey  the  servants  and  the 
personal  belongings  of  the  family. 

From  him  we  learned  that  the  President  had 
already  been  tried  and  condemned  to  death.  The 
members  of  his  Cabinet  were  offered  pardon  if  they 
would  take  an  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Crown. 

As  it  was  impossible  for  mc,  knowing  his  wife's 
sentiments  toward  me,  to  accept  the  invitation  the 
rector  kindly  extended,  I  Avas  loft  with  my  few  be- 
longings at  a  small  hotel,  and  once  again  I  found 
myself  without  kindred,  without  country,  home  or 
ties. 

Born  in  mid-ocean  among  a  hostile  crew,  it  was 
small  wonder  that  I  should  feel  little  interest  in 
the  rise  or  fall  of  republic  or  kingdom.  Like  the 
Ancient  Mariner,  I  had  passed  "like  night,  from 
land  to  land,  and  learned  strange  power  of  speech." 
My  father  had  taught  me  that  all  gods  must  melt 
into  one  God,  and  that  all  nations  were  destined 
to  become  one  nation.  In  my  own  mind  I  was 
satisfied  that  he  was  right,  and  it  was  not  of  the 
petty  strifes  of  a  mixed  people,  with  reasons  dark- 
ened by  superstition,   and   fermenting  with   race 


A   Tale    Half   Told.  59 

prejudices,  that  I  was  thinking,  as  I  leaned  from 
my  window  and  watched  the  cascades  of  Chinese 
firecrackers  rattling  in  the  street  reddened  by  torch 
and  rocket,  but  of  the  late  ruler  of  this  most  faith- 
less people,  sentenced  to  be  hanged  at  daybreak  of 
our  next.  At  the  thought  I  felt  that  I  was  suffo- 
cating, and  I  leaned  still  further  from  the  window 
and  caught  with  my  breath  at  the  wind  which 
fanned  my  cheek,  and  lifted  the  hair  from  my  fore- 
head. 

Along  with  the  dark  red  of  my  head's  covering, 
I  had  inherited  from  my  father  other  characteris- 
tics, among  which  was  quickness  of  thought  and 
decision.  No  sooner  had  I  heard  the  result  of  the 
trial  than  I  knew  what  I  would  do.  I  recked  not 
the  costs,  nor  did  fear  of  a  price  I  might  have  to 
pay  deter  me  from  my  purpose. 

It  was  not  that  I  hesitated  that  I  did  not  go  at 
once  to  the  King,  but  on  my  father's  side  I  come 
from  artful  and  careful  blood,  and  I  wished  to 
perfect  a  line  of  march  in  my  own  mind  before 
opening  the  campaign. 

The  night  was  thick,  but  on  the  bay  lay  the 
shadow  of  the  moon,  like  a  cloud  upon  a  painted 
ocean.  Dark,  glossy  and  ribbed  with  foam  danced 
the  waters  about  it,  but  the  shadow  shone,  an 
elfish  light,  like  hope  in  the  human  breast.  I 
drew  in  my  head  and  closed  the  window  against 
chance  sparks  which  might  set  fire  to  the  draperies. 

I  then  destroyed  what  few  letters  I  had  kept  be- 
longing to  my  father,  and  slipped  in  the  loose  front 
of  the  waist  I  wore  a  pocket  testament  given  me 
by  my  father  on  my  fourth  birthday.  I  had  on  a 
shirtwaist  suit  of  thin  black  silk,  and  I  tied  a  veil 


6o  A'   Tale    Half   Told. 

over  my  hat,  pulling  it  down  over  my  face.  Leav- 
ing my  room  I  passed  unostentatiously  from  the 
hotel. 

My  first  encounter  was  with  a  donkey,  and  oc- 
curred just  outside  the  hotel  entrance;  the  animal 
was  not  remarkable  in  himself,  carrying  nothing 
about  him  out  of  the  regular  except  a  load  of 
watermelons,  which  were  piled  on  each  side  of  the 
basket  that  formed  his  saddle.    His  driver  was  re- 
markable for  two  things;  first  for  the  dirtiness 
which  so  well  became  him,  and  second  for  his  utter 
incapacity  to  understand  why  I  should  have  any 
interests  in  life  beyond  eating  of  his  wares  at  a 
half  penny  a  slice.    Next  I  met  a  mahogany -colored 
boy  of  very  rascally  appearance;  he  bore  in  his 
hand  a  huge  cobra-capello  which  he  offered  to  eat 
for  my  amusement  if  I  had  the  price  of  the  en- 
tertainment.   I  declined,  and  he  insisted,  so  I  gave 
him  a  piece  of  silver  to  allow  me  to  pass.     The 
streets  were  thronged  with  natives,  some  of  them 
muffled  beyond  all  human  semblance,  others  in  at- 
tire much  like  that  worn  by  Mother  Eve  after 
eating  of  the  traditional  apple;  there  appears  to 
be  no  medium  in  some  minds  between  wrapping 
up  and  complete  nakedness.     I  passed  a  juggler 
mounted  on  a  camel,  and  donkey  boys  beating  their 
beasts.     My  heart  began  to  fill  with  a  great  pity 
for  this  childish  and  miscellaneous  race — perhaps 
I  inherit  this  pity  from  my  father,  although  I  had 
never  felt  it  before,  being  formerly  of  the  opinion 
that  man's  birthright  was  to  pity,  not  to  be  pitied. 
The  camel's  head  was  toward  me  and  the  mingled 
expression  of  spite,  fear,  and  hopelessness  in  his 
face  pierced  my  heart  with  a  sick  pain. 


A   Tale    Half    Told.  6i 

There  is  in  this  world  a  class  of  beings  whom  I 
envy.  It  is  they  who  know  all  lands  but  no  lan- 
guage, who  have  been  everywhere  and  done  noth- 
ing, looked  at  everything  and  seen  nothing,  read 
everything  and  remember  notliing.  Their  spirits 
are  light,  their  minds  at  ease;  they  lose  no  sleep, 
neither  does  their  appetite  lag;  no  tear  burns  be- 
tween the  lid  and  the  eye,  no  pang  leaps  from  the 
heart  to  the  throat.  Envied,  thrice  envied  be 
they!  for  they  know  not  that  life  is  sorrow  and 
that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  death. 


62  A   Tale    Half    Told. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

I   CHANGE    MT    XAME    AXD    SOCIAL    STAXDIXG. 

At  the  palace  gates  I  was  stopped  by  a  sentinel, 
who  asked  ray  business. 

"I  wish  to  see  the  King,"  I  replied. 

He  laughed  coarsely. 

"There  be  many  like  you  would  like  to  see  the 
King;  but  he  has  something  to  do  besides  receive 
visitors ;  no,  widow,  be  off !" 

Have  I  said  that  I  have  beautiful  hands  ?  I  took 
from  my  purse  ca  gold  piece  and  balanced  it  on  the 
tip  of  my  white  forefinger. 

"Jesu  Mary !  such  a  hand  would  in  itself  serve 
as  passport  to  a  King!" 

He  held  his  palm  beneath  my  hand  and  the  gold 
dropped  into  it. 

"For  sending  word  to  the  King  that  Thalia 
Dcmorest  is  without  the  palace  gate  and  would 
speak  with  him." 

He  called  a  guard  and  delivered  the  message. 

"WTien  I  was  brought  before  the  King  he  was 
dicing  with  a  woman  whose  unbound  hair  was 
silken  black  and  interwoven  with  flowers ;  her  full, 
brown  breasts,  thinly  veiled,  rose  and  palpitated 
with  each  excited  breath ;  her  skin  was  not  so  dark 
but  that  the  rich  blood  could  be  seen  beating  in 


A   Tale    Half    Told.  63 

her  cheek,  licr  eyes  flashed  fire,  and  the  soft  full- 
ness of  her  gown  clung  to  her  body,  revealing  the 
superb,  voluptuous  curves  of  her  limbs.  She  was 
certainly  a  glorious,  sensuous  creature,  and  it 
flashed  through  my  brain  as  I  looked  at  her  that  I 
had  little  to  offer  to  offset  such  charms. 

The  King  extended  his  hand,  and  through  my 
veil  my  lips  touched  it. 

"Will  you  sit?"  he  asked,  waving  his  hand 
toward  a  chair. 

I  sat  and  threw  back  my  veil.  The  woman  sank 
into  a  graceful,  sensuous  heap;  the  King  looked 
carelessly  at  her,  then  at  me. 

"Speak,"  he  commanded. 

I  looked  at  the  woman. 

"Who  is  this  person?"  I  demanded. 

"Medea,"  said  the  King,  "is  what  you  would 
call  a  sorceress;  she  interprets  dreams  and  reads 
signs  in  the  sky;  you  know  we  Hawouitians  are 
full  of  superstitions.  Christianity  has  not  suc- 
ceeded in  eradicating  our  reverence  for  omens  and 
sorceries;  we  believe  in  fatality,  and  in.  the  royal 
palace  there  always  resides  a  priest  or  priestess  of 
the  sovereign's  tribe;  Medea  foretold  the  downfall 
of  the  republic  and  my  ascension  to  the  throne." 

The  sorceress  was  glaring  at  me  with  blazing  eyes 
and  working  lips. 

"Since  she  be  so  highly  gifted,"  rejoined  I,  "she 
may  be  spared  the  fatigue  of  our  interview;  she 
has  simply  to  boil  her  caldron  and  know  all  that 
passes  between  us." 

"Don't  touch  her,"  said  the  King  warningly,  as 
the  sorceress  half  rose  from  her  seat. 

I  began  to   fear,   lest,   in   arousing  enmity,    I 


64  A    Tale    Half    Told. 

niiglit  hurt  the  cause  in  belialf  of  which  I  was 
there.  I  locked  my  fingers  in  my  lap  and  leaned 
slightly  forward  in  my  chair. 

"I  wish  to  see  you  alone,"  I  said  in  low,  seductive 
tones. 

"Go !"  ho  said,  turning  to  Medea. 

"I  will  not  go !"  she  shrieked.  "You  dare  not 
send  me  from  you!  You  know  that  a  school  of 
white  fish  swimming  to  the  shore  on  the  full  of  the 
moon,  and  turning  red  when  dying,  foretold  the 
death  of  a  chief;  I  can  weave  spells  to  keep  away 
the  evil  eye ;  I—I " 

"I  have  told  you  to  go,"  ho  repeated,  and  with 
the  jewelled  hilt  of  his  dagger  he  struck  a  goblet 
upon  the  table  between  them.  The  door  instantly 
opened  to  admit  the  royal  guard  of  the  King's 
person ;  the  King  rose  and  bowed  low  to  the  weaver 
of  charms.  She  was  escorted  with  great  cere- 
mony from  the  room.  I  crossed  to  the  seat  she  had 
vacated  and  leaned  my  arms  upon  the  table  sepa- 
rating me  from  the  King. 

"Kameh  Roohk,''  I  said,  "to-day's  sun  set  upon 
a  wrong  done  to-day,  and  to-morrow's  sun  should 
rise  upon  its  repentance.  You  are  victor,  so  an- 
other is  the  traitor,  but  does  it  not  become  victory 
to  deal  mercifully  with  the  vanquished?" 

He  gave  me  a  quick  look,  dark,  deep  and  in- 
scrutable. 

"You  are  here  to  plead  the  cause  of  your  para- 
mour, and  you  ask  me  to  show  him  mercy  ?" 

"I  ask  you  to  do  by  him  as  you  would  have  him 
do  by  you  were  your  positions  reversed." 
"In  the  fewest  words^  what  do  you  want?" 
"A  pardon." 


A   Tale    Half    Told.  65 

"I  can  not  grant  it." 

"Why  not  ?     Are  you  not  King  ?" 

"1  should  be  King  but  a  short  time  were  he  at 
liberty." 

"Banish  him." 

"He  would  return." 

"Make  death  the  penalty  of  his  doing  so." 

He  was  silent  a  long  time,  his  elbow  resting  upon 
the  table,  his  hand  covering  his  eyes,  then  throwing 
back  his  head,  he  exclaimed : 

"No,  he  shall  die  to-morrow  at  sunrise." 

I  stretched  my  hand,  palm  upwards,  across  the 
table. 

"When  he  dies  the  King  of  Hawouitia  ceases  to 
live!" 

He  stared  at  me. 

"You  threaten  the  King?" 

"I  am  the  daughter  of  a  missionary,"  I  replied, 
"and  these  fingers  are  best  suited  to  turning  pages 
of  the  Holy  Writ." 

The  King  picked  up  my  hand  and  examined  it 
coolly. 

"It  is  a  pretty  hand,"  said  he,  "and  reminds  one 
of  the  test  put  by  Ulysses  to  young  Achilles,  a 
weapon  buried  in  the  folds  of  a  woman's  garments ; 
I  wonder  if  it  is  disposed  to  pay  the  price  for  what 
it  seeks?" 

I  shivered,  although  the  great  drops  stood  out 
on  my  forehead. 

"What  is  the  price?"  I  asked. 

"You  know." 

"My  person?" 

He  emiled  oddly. 

"Your  person  is  not  attractive  enough  in  itself." 


66  A    Talc    Half    Told. 

I  thought  of  the  glorious  Medea,  and  I  felt 
small  and  insignificant. 

"What  then?" 

"Your  love." 

"Win  it." 

"I  am  offering  to  buy  it." 

I  began  to  fear  him. 

"It  can  not  be  bought,"  I  said,  striving  desper- 
ately to  keep  a  tremor  from  my  voice,  "but  set  the 
President  and  his  Cabinet  free  and  you  will  have 
most  nobly  deserved  it." 

"I  may  deserve  without  getting  it ;  not  all  of  us 
are  rewarded  according  to  our  deserts." 

I  saw  that  he  was  playing  at  cross-purposes  with 
me,  and  a  sickening  despair  took  possession  of  my 
soul. 

"Well,"  said  I,  "make  your  own  terms." 

He  still  held  my  hand  in  both  of  his,  and  he 
began  drawing  me  toward  him  over  the  low  table. 
His  grasp  was  cruel,  and  the  edge  of  the  table  cut 
into  my  body  through  my  thin  silk  waist ;  I  resolved 
then  to  kill  him  as  soon  as  an  opportunity  pre- 
sented itself. 

"What  guarantee  have  I  that  you  will  not  run 
away  with  him  as  soon  as  I  have  liberated  him?" 

"My  word." 

He  laughed. 

"A  woman's  word !"  and  he  laughed  again. 

I  wondered  I  did  not  strike  him  in  the  face. 

"Put  me  in  irons." 

"These  hands  shall  be  your  only  irons,"  and  the 
shapely  dark  fingers  closed  tightly  over  mine.  I 
knew  then  what  to  expect  when  I  became  the  wife 
of  Kameh  Roohk. 


A   Tale    Half    Told.  67 

"As  you  wish,"  I  said  calmly,  though  I  winced 
with  pain.     He  loosed  his  hold. 

"Forgive  me,"  he  said,  as  he  saw  the  red  marks 
upon  my  hand. 

''Pray  do  not  trouble  yourself  to  apologize,"  re- 
joined I  with  bitter  irony. 

"You  know  now,"  replied  he,  "that  it  is  not  a 
child  with  whom  you  have  to  deal,  though  he  be  the 
descendant  of  a  childish  race.  I  love  you — but 
we  will  let  that  pass,"  lie  added  quickly,  as  he  saw 
the  contempt  of  my  lip,  "a  pardon  shall  be  granted. 
Crane  and  his  followers  shall  be  set  at  liberty,  but 
with  the  understanding  that  they  return  to  Ha- 
wouitia  only  when  they  are  in  search  of  death; 
having  in  this  respect  acted  with  great  magnanim- 
ity I  shall  be  entitled  to  the  love  of  my  wife,  the 
Queen  of  Hawouitia,  for  of  course  I  shall  have  a 
wife  before  such  magnanimity  is  displayed."  He 
paused,  evidently  expecting  me  to  speak,  but  I 
did  not,  and  he  went  on :  "There  is  a  priest  handy, 
and  in  cases  of  urgent  haste  a  license  is  easily  pro- 
cured, particularly  when  the  contracting  parties  are 
people  of  note;  to-night  the  sometime  president 
tastes  of  the  sweetness  of  regained  liberty,  and  the 
King  drinks  of  the  nectar  of  merited  love.  A  state 
ceremony  can  be  solemnized  later." 

I  was  sweating  with  horror. 

"I  prefer  a  Protestant  clergyman,"  I  said,  more 
to  prolong  my  freedom  than  for  any  choice  I  had  in 
the  matter. 

"As  you  wish,  although  you  are  of  course  aware 
that  the  crown  is  Catholic;  is  there  any  one  you 
prefer  ?" 


68  A   Tale    Half   Told. 

'Not  knowing  why,  I  expressed  a  desire  that  the 
rector  of  the  "Church  of  the  Adwnt"  be  sent  for. 

He  struck  the  goblet. 

"Bring  me  pen,  ink,  and  paper,"  commanded  he. 

He  wrote  two  notes,  sealed  them  with  the  king's 
seal,  and  despatched  them;  after  which  he  began 
restlessly  to  pace  the  floor. 

"And  your  mistress,"  I  demanded,  "what  of 
her?" 

He  stopped  in  front  of  me. 

''Who  says  that  she  is  my  mistress  ?" 

"I  do,"  I  replied  calmly,  looking  up  at  him. 

He  threw  back  his  head. 

"You  are  certainly  worth  a  president's  ransom,** 
he  laughed ;  "you  say  that  she  is  my  mistress,  then 
you  shall  say  what  shall  be  done  with  her." 

I  picked  up  the  dagger  he  had  left  lying  upon 
the  table,  and  fell  to  admiring  the  jewels  in  its 
hilt. 

"She  shall  be  boiled  in  her  caldron,"  I  re- 
plied. 

He  laughed  again.  He  had  a  good  laugh,  al- 
though he  was  a  bad,  bad  man. 

"You  are  disposed  to  jest." 

"There  is  many  a  truth  spoken  in  like  vein,"  I 
rejoined,  holding  the  dagger  to  the  light  that  I 
might  the  better  catch  a  matchless  ray  from  a  ruby 
in  the  coat  of  arms. 

He  had  resumed  his  walk,  now  he  paused  again. 

"You  have  a  good  memory,"  said  he,  "and  a 
playful  habit  of  treasuring  up  the  remarks  of 
others." 

"I  am  a  victim  of  the  law  of  heredity,"  I  re- 


"Do  you  mean- 


A   Tale    Half   Told.  69 

turned,  "my  father  was  a  playful  man,  and  pos- 
sessed of  an  excellent  memory." 

We  did  not  speak  again  until  the  arrival  of 
Eichard  Crane.  The  rector  was  as  white  as  a 
wall,  and  when  his  gaze  fell  upon  me  his  eyes  fairly 
started  from  his  head. 

"Miss  Demorest,  are " 

"Yes,"  interrupted  Kameh  Roohk,  "she  is  one  of 
the  contracting  parties." 

He  looked  from  one  to  the  other,  and  I  opened 
my  lips  to  explain,  but  at  that  instant  two  men  en- 
tered. They  were  attired  in  blue  broadcloth  em- 
bellished in  gold  lace,  and  both  wore  brilliant 
badges,  and  carried  a  sword  at  their  side.  I  do  not 
know  who  they  were,  although  they  signed  as  wit- 
nesses after  the  reading  of  the  marriage  ceremony. 

In  such  fashion  I  became  a  King's  consort. 

As  I  finished  signing  my  name,  and  the  rector 
laid  the  blotter  across  the  signature  to  dry  it,  he 
said: 

"This  will  be  a  surprise  to  my  brother  when  he 
hears  of  it." 

"He  will  understand,"  I  replied,  in  the  same 
key  m  which  he  had  spoken;  Kameh  Roohk  had 
withdrawn  to  the  window,  and  was  conversing  in 
muffled  tones  with  the  two  men. 

The  fingers  the  rector  had  been  rubbing  across 
the  blotter  became  suddenly  still. 

"Do  you  mean "  he  began,  then  paused. 

I  nodded. 

"He  has  promised  me  a  pardon." 

"But  he  may  not  need  a  pardon,  before  another 
week  the  republic  may  be  restored." 

"That  would  be  too  late  to  save  him." 


70  IK   Tale    Half    Told. 

He  looked  at  me  as  though  puzzled,  then  a  light 
appearing  to  dawn  on  him,  he  exclaimed : 

"Don't  you  know?     Haven't  you  heard?" 

"Know!  heard!  what  is  it?  Speak!"  I  cried, 
and  the  King  and  the  two  men  came  quickly  to 
us. 

"Why,  the  prison  guard  were  overpowered,  and 
the  political  prisoners  have  escaped." 

The  pen  dropped  from  my  nerveless  fingers,  and 
I  stared  up  in  the  rector's  eyes.  He  was  leaning, 
his  clenched  fists  upon  the  table,  and  his  face  bent 
almost  on  mine.  For  a  full  minute  we  remained 
like  this,  as  though  cut  in  granite ;  then  he  snatched 
the  certificate  from  beneath  my  hand  and  tore  it 
across  twice. 

But  we  had  forgotten  a  star  of  no  little  magni- 
tude. Before  Richard  Crane  had  time  to  crush 
the  paper  he  held,  his  wrist  was  seized  in  a  grip  of 
steel. 

"Take  those  pieces  of  paper!"  roared  the  King. 

The  rector's  fingers  held  them  like  a  vise. 

*'The  document  is  not  legal,"  he  fairly  shouted, 
"one  of  the  contracting  parties  was  under  a  mis- 
take; her  consent  was  obtained  under  false  pre- 
tences, and  she  has  been  wilfully  and  criminally 
duped !" 

But  the  iron  grip  upon  his  wrist  began  to  tell, 
his  hold  on  the  papers  slackened,  and  they  flut- 
tered to  the  floor. 

"Pick  them  up  and  piece  them  together,"  came 
in  the  sharp,  incisive  accents  of  the  King, 

One  of  the  men  stooped  to  do  so. 

Then  for  the  second  time  in  my  life  I  fainted. 


A    Tale    Half    Told.  71 


CHx\PTER  X. 

I   REALIZE  MY  MARTYRDOM. 

I  WAS  in  heaven,  and  Mr.  Crane  was  with  me. 
We  had  never  been  in  Hawouitia,  for  there  was  no 
such  place.  We  had  always  been  in  heaven  and  al- 
ways would  be.  Kameh  Eoohk  was  a  fallen  angel, 
and  way  down  somewhere  in  the  lowest  depths  of 
heaven  he  was  kept  busy  throwing  huge  pieces  of 
meat  into  the  gaping  jaws  of  a  triple-headed  mon- 
ster, to  keep  the  creature  from  barking,  and  there- 
by disturbing  mc.  The  streets  of  heaven  were  not 
paved  with  gold  as  had  been  reported,  but  with  re- 
freshing green  moss,  and  at  night  we  lay  down  upon 
a  bed  of  lilies  under  a  pansy  roof.  The  gold  was 
in  the  hearts  of  the  pansies,  and  I  used  to  try  and 
reach  them  to  pick  it'  out  that  I  might  sew  it  upon 
my  white  dress.  One  day  I  worked  so  hard,  being 
anxious  to  collect  all  the  gold  before  the  nightfall 
that  I  became  very  tired,  and  went  to  sleep  with 
my  hands  full  of  the  shining,  yellow  stuff.  I  slept 
for  years  and  when  I  awoke  I  found  that  heaven 
was  a  great  room  that  I  never  remembered  seeing 
before,  that  the  green  moss  in  the  streets  was  a 
green  carpet  of  noble  breadth,  the  lilies  snowy 
linen,  the  roof  of  pansies  a  violet  silk  canopy  dashed 
with  gilt  stars,  and  the  pile  of  gold  an  orange  silk 


72  :A:   Talc    Half    Told. 

handkerchief  folded  to  form  a  turlian,  and  in  the 
shade  of  the  bed  curtains  I  saw  a  woolly  pate  which 
it  had  probably  adorned.  I  sat  up  in  bed,  but  was 
immediately  pushed  back  upon  my  pillow??. 

"Lor'-a-massey !  look  down  upon  dat  ebil  chile! 
but  she  do  hab  the  strenff  ob  de  berry  dcbil !" 
"Where  am  I?''  I  demanded. 
"Bress  dat  cute  little  red  hed?  wha's  got  back  its 
resonabless;  why,  yuse  is  in  yuse  hubby's  own 
house,  and  he  dat  rattled  about  yuse  that  it  wer 
hard  telling  which  ob  yuse  wor  de  worstest !" 

I  looked  at  my  hand ;  it  was  so  thin  I  could  see 
the  light  through  it. 

"I  have  been  sick  and  out  of  my  head." 
"Well,  an'  as  douh  dis  brack  chile  didn't  kno' 
dat;  an'  dem  two  little  debblish  bans  a  pulling 
de  yaller  crown  off  her  pade." 

"Give  me  j'our  hand  to  show  me  that  you  forgive 
me,"  said  I,  "and  toll  me  how  I  came  here." 

"Well,  yuse  wor  dat  oberdone  and  tickled  to  deff 
to  marry  the  King — for  how  wor  yuse  to  kno'  dat 
he  would  be  King  only  five  days,  an'  whar  fob  King 
or  jus  plain  man  he  wor  de  dobbil?"' 
"Is  he  not  King  now?"  I  interrupted. 
"Lor's-a-massey !  chile,  doan  yuse  git  incited 
abou'  dat;  doan  yuse  get  huffy  abou'  dat;  he  am 
jus'  more  likely  to  be  King  nex'  monf  an'  ever  he 

wor !  doan  yuse  git  incited  abou'  it " 

"I  am  not  excited,"  I  broke  in  again,  "go  on;  is 
the  government  a  republic  again  ?" 

"A  republic,  sho'  nough ;  dat  scum  wha'  ain't 
got  no  fambly,  an'  doan  kno'  who's  f adder  it  is  is  a 
eating  like  pigs  in  de  royal  shebang !" 
"W^as  there  much  bloodshed?" 


A   Tale    Half    Told.  ^i 

*'^Not  a  debbliyli  drop ;  it  wor  wha'  yuse  call  a 
bloody  revelation.'' 

"A  bloodless  revolution ;  I  see ;  and  they  have  the 
same  President?" 

"De  berry  same;  a  sassy  white  boy  from  de 
debbil  knows  whar." 

"How  long  have  I  been  here  ?" 

"It  am  fre'  weeks  sine'  yuse  wor  dat  oberdone  by 
the  high-might-nes  ob  de  honor  confered  upon  yuse 
dat  yuse  fell  frum  yuse  chair  righ'  onto  the  back 
ob  dat  refratorabuncious  hed,  and  banged  it  dat 
hard  dat  it  insulted  in  discussion  ob  de  brain." 

In  my  interest  I  had  forgotten  that  the  poor 
black  might  be  more  familiar  with  some  other  lan- 
guage; when  I  remembered  it  I  said: 

"What  language  do  you  speak  best?" 

She  drew  herself  up  proudly. 

"I  am  an  executioner  ob  all  languages/'  she  re- 
turned haughtily,  'Taut  de  English  am  my  nativ* 
tongue,  for  I  wor  trown  in  dis  worl'  ob  sinful  sin- 
ners in  ole  Kentuck." 

"And  you  came  here  how?" 

"I  comed  har  wif  a  missionary's  fambly  twenty 
yeers  ago,  but  dey  was  all  killed  and  I  wor  taken 
by  de  royal  fam.bly.  Kameh  Roohk  he  appoin- 
trified  me  yuse  lady  in  waiting,  tinking  yuse  would 
be  more  at  home  like  wif  some  one  ob  yuse  o\\ti 
kind." 

"Leave  me  now,"  I  said,  "I  wish  to  sleep." 

I  was  glad,  very  glad,  but  I  pressed  my  head 
hard  to  the  pillow,  and  I  tasted  the  salt  of  my 
tears  when,  quivering,  they  sped  down  my  cheeks 
to  my  lips.  He  lived.  The  Eepublic  ruled !  The 
President  was  restored  to  his  wife  and  child.     They 


74  A   Tale    Half   Told. 

sat  again  in  the  great  saloon  beside  the  tinkling 
fountain ;  through  the  open  windows  rushed  the  air, 
voluptuous  with  the  scent  of  orange  blossoms  and 
jasmine;  outside  the  slender  shafts  of  the  cocoa 
palm  waved  their  plumes  and  fruitage  over  banks 
of  blazing  flowers;  great  purple  and  crimson  leaves 
forced  their  passage  between  clumps  of  marvellous 
lilies,  gladiolas,  passion-flowers  and  fuchsias ;  a  per- 
fect wilderness  of  bloom.  Husband  and  wife  were 
reunited,  they  were  once  again  the  first  people  in 
the  land,  and  the  tears  ran  swiftly  over  my  face 
until  my  pillow  was  wet,  and  I  swallowed  a  lump 
which  ached  in  my  throat,  and  I  swallowed  the  one 
that  came  after  it ;  and  I  kept  on  swallowing  until 
a  ringing  surged  in  my  cars ;  I  felt  so  tired,  yet  I 
swallowed  on,  and  I  lived  on. 

Then  I  remembered  Kameh  Eoohk,  and  terror 
raised  the  hair  on  my  head.  I  shut  my  eyes  tight, 
yet  his  flashing  teeth  and  his  golden  face,  and  his 
golden  face  and  his  flashing  teeth  pressed  ever 
against  my  sight.  The  tears  melted  to  cold  sweat, 
and  bathed  my  neck  and  limbs.  I  lay  this  way  a 
long  time,  and  then  I  slept  again. 

The  next  morning  I  heard  a  voice  at  my  bedside 
which  stift'ened  to  ice  the  blood  at  my  heart.  I 
looked  up  at  him. 

"Go  away,"  I  said. 

He  laid  upon  the  pillow  a  bunch  of  pale  anemones 
and  turned  away. 

I  picked  up  the  flowers  and  flung  them  after 
him;  he  caught  them  when  they  struck  his  shoul- 
der. 

"Now  dat  debbil's  chile !"  came  a  voice  from  the 
window  draperies. 


[A   Tale    Half   Told.  75 

"Where  are  we?"  I  demanded  a  week  or  two 
later,  as  I  sat  propped  up  in  cushions  upon  a  flight 
of  broad  stone  steps. 

Before  me  lay  a  pathless  glen,  beyond  and  behind 
me  rose  stately  mountains,  solemnly  decked  in 
purple  haze ;  and  just  in  sight  was  a  great  natural 
basin  where  met  the  waters  of  all  neighboring 
mountain  streams.  It  was  a  gray  day,  and  over 
the  mountains  tlie  sun  shone  a  ball  of  red  gold, 
lighting  the  dull  canopy  of  heaven  with  as  weird 
a  paleness  as  a  smile  on  a  dead  man's  face.  The 
solemn  grandeur  of  this  desert  plain,  the  naked 
wal  lof  mountains  darkened  by  a  cloudy  sky,  fitted 
exactly  my  mood.  Before  asking  where  we  were  I 
had  been  repeating  softly  to  myself,  "In  His  world 
all  things  prosper  upon  which  His  shadow  rests." 

"We  is  in  one  ob  Kameh  Eoohk's  sumpimccious 
palaces,  you  cute  little  debbil's  chile;  wharfore 
yuse  ax  dis  brack  lily  so  many  questions?"  and  she 
wound  round  and  round  my  body  a  long  woolen 
scarf  to  guard  me  from  the  deadly  chill  of  the 
glen. 

On  the  air  fell  the  sound  of  a  convent  bell  in 
wild  hiding,  and  there  broke  upon  our  vision  a  line 
of  monks  in  white  tunics  and  scarlet  girdles. 
Whilst  they  were  passing  Kameh  Eoohk  came  out 
and  sat  on  the  step  below  me.  He  drew  his  dagger 
from  its  sheath  and  commenced  throwing  it  in  air, 
catching  it  in  its  descent  by  the  sparkling  hilt. 
Suddenly  I  turned  to  him. 

"Am  I  your  wife  ?"  I  asked. 

He  glanced  at  me  in  surprise  and  missed  his 
throw ;  the  glittering  plaything  fell  on  the  step  be- 
side me.     I  picked  it  up. 


76  A   Tale    Half   Told. 

''Would  I  have  taken  you  with  me  had  you  not 
been?'' 

"WHiy  not?  Since  you  are  not  troubled  by  fine 
discriminations;  you  did  not  hesitate  to  play  upon 
my  ignorance." 

"How  could  I  be  certain  that  you  were  ignorant 
of  the  escape  of  the  prisoners,  when  it  was  heralded 
from  all  the  house  tops?" 

"You  knew  that  had  there  been  time  I  would 
have  acted  with  less  haste,  and  3'ou  forced  proceed- 
ings that  I,  your  victim,  might  not  escape  you." 

He  was  silent,  and  I  resumed. 

"When  the  king,  no  longer  king  but  traitor,  was 
forced  to  hide  from  the  Eepublic  he  had  betrayed, 
he  took  me,  his  victim,  with  him,  and  buried  me  in 
this  living  tomb." 

"Is  it  not  comfortable  here  ?  Is  there  aught  that 
you  lack  ?" 

"There  is  a  thing  I  lack  without  which  life  has 
no  flavor  of  sweetness." 

"AVhat  is  that?"  he  asked. 

"Freedom !" 

"You  are  not  a  prisoner ;  I  shall  not  restrict  you ; 
you  are  free  to  roam  about  at  your  will." 

I  fixed  my  eyes  on  the  darkening  sky. 

"I  am  worse  than  a  prisoner,"  I  said  quietly. 
"I  am  a  martyr,  condemned  to  drag  out  my  weary 
days  tied  to  a  living  corpse." 

His  face  was  pale  as  a  shroud  seen  through  a 
yellow  mist. 

"xA.m  I  then  so  loathsome  to  you?'* 

"Your  character  is  most  repugnant  to  me;  if 
the  death  in  a  man's  heart  of  honor,  loyalty,  patriot- 


A   Tale    Half   Told.  ^y 

ism,  and  chivalry  constitute  the  corpse,  then  you 
are  long  since  putrid  in  moral  decay/' 

He  did  not  speak,  and  I  raised  the  dagger  in  my 
hand. 

"There  is  a  way  out  of  it,"  I  said,  "this  way/' 
and  I  held  the  blade  to  my  heart,  "or  this,"  and  I 
turned  its  point  on  him. 

"Lordy!  Gody !"  came  in  muffled  accents  from 
the  open  door  above. 


78 


A    Tale    Half    Told. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

I  rilSTD  A  FRIEND  IN"  ONE  WHOM  I  BEFRIENDED. 

I  LEARNED  by  degrees  that  we  were  on  one  of 
the  estates  belonging  to  the  crown,  and  known  only 
to  royal  partisans.  It  was  in  the  extreme  north  of 
Hawoiiitia,  and  approached  only  through  a  chain  of 
mountains  infested  by  brigands,  and  other  loyal 
subjects  of  the  king.  There  was  something  sub- 
lime and  fearful  in  the  isolation  of  that  gloomy  val- 
ley, open  at  one  end  to  the  sea  and  walled  in  on 
all  other  sides  by  giant  precipices  from  one  to  two 
thousand  feet  in  height.  Darkness  comes  on  early 
between  these  high  walls,  and  the  air  is  chill  when 
the  sun  has  set.  I  used  to  sit  on  sombre  evenings 
and  look  out  over  the  track  of  long  green  grass  to 
the  broad  Pacific,  flashing  and  throbbing  in  the 
gathering  dusk,  and  wonder  if  a  day  would  come 
Avhen,  weary  of  my  unutterable  weariness,  I  would 
go  to  sleep  upon  its  coral  beds,  all  unmindful  of  the 
eager  fondling  of  the  waters  as  they  played  about 
their  passive  prey.  It  would  be  quiet  down  there, 
very  quiet,  and  the  dead  sleep  well. 

And  yet,  some  say  they  sleep  not  well!  My 
father  was  fond  of  telling  the  heathen  that  some 
could  not  sleep  from  a  thirst  which  was  never  slack- 


A   Tale    Half   Told.  79 

ened,  though  they  be  buried  fathoms  deep  in  fresh 

water. 

The  drunkard  could  not  sleep,  nor  the  usurer, 
neither  the  lewd  woman,  nor  he  who  rejected  Christ, 
nor  _  the  barbarian  who  had  never  heard  of  the 
Christ,  and  therefore  could  not  reject  Him;  none 
of  these  could  sleep;  no,  nor  countless  others  of 
whom  I  will  not  write  from  lack  of  space.  And 
so  I  can  not  be  sure  of  rest  even  there.  And  if 
not  there,  where? 

Tell  me,  0  Mystery,  somewhat  of  that  hospi- 
tality which  lies  beyond  your  voiceless  portals !  Is 
there  in  that  land  of  common  fellowship  peace 
and  welcome  for  an  uninvited  guest?  or  would  the 
intruder  be  propelled  to  earth  again  in  rags  and 
tatters  in  comparison  to  which  his  former  covering 
were  as  a  mantle  of  fine  purple  ?  Yet  no ;  we  can 
not  retrogress ;  what  we  have  gained  we  can  never 
lose.  That  which  is  ours  by  inheritance  is  not  our 
own,  but  that  which  has  been  wrung  from  the  soul's 
experiences  through  every  phase  of  existence  from 
the  monad  up,  is  Ourself.  Our  very  own.  It  is 
all  we  have ;  and  must  be  forever  ours. 

Sometimes  in  the  morning  I  would  get  up  very 
early  and  go  with  Black  Lily  down  to  the  beach 
to  watch  the  servants  in  their  sport  of  surf  board 
riding.  They  looked  fierce  and  formidable  rush- 
ing shorewards  on  their  tough  surf  boards,  standing 
erect,  or  lying  face  downwards  on  the  plank,  and 
always  just  ahead  of  a  curling  breaker,  always  just 
on  the  verge  of  being  dashed  to  pieces  by  the  speed- 
ing waves  whose  towering  white  crest  was  ever 
above  and  just  behind  them.  This  was  very  excit- 
ing. 


8o  A   Tale    Half   Told. 

In  the  afternoons  I  would  go  hunting  for  ferns, 
■R'hiling  away  the  hours  in  seeking  for  new  speci- 
mens, and  asking  their  names  of  Agab,  an  Arab, 
who  had  a  hut  on  the  estate.  This  old  man  and 
I  grew  very  fond  of  one  another;  all  our  conver- 
sations were  carried  on  in  Arabic.  He  prided  him- 
self on  knowing  by  heart  one  himdred  of  the  tales 
told  by  the  noble  maiden  Scheherezade  to  her  cruel 
lord.  He  would  often  stop  in  the  middle  of  a  nar- 
rative and  look  at  me  with  a  strange  expression  of 
countenance,  half  sad,  half  inquiring,  like  that  of 
a  faithful  dog.  I  would  read  to  him  out  of  my 
well-thumbed  testament — for  I  am  my  father's 
child,  and  he  would  turn  his  head  from  side  to 
side  and  murmur,  "Allah !"  and  murmur  "Allah," 
and  wag  his  head  again. 

"So  you  see ,"   I   would  say,  looking  up, 

"there  is  only  one  God." 

"Yah,  yah,  your  highness,"  he  would  interrupt, 
"there  is  no  God  but  God,  and  Mohammed  is  his 
prophet !" 

"Xo,  no,  Agab,  there  is  no  God  but  God  it  is 
true,  but  my  father " 

"Yah,  yah,  your  highness,"  he  would  break  in 
again,  "ther'^  is  no  God  but  God,  and  your  father 
was  his  prophet  while  he  lived,  but  your  father 
died  and  went  to  his  heavenly  houries,  and  Moham- 
med took  up  the  Word  again ;  Allah !  Allah !  yah ! 
yah !" 

Agab  had  grown  dear  to  me  in  my  loneliness,  but 
I  began  to  perceive  that  if  none  but  believers  are 
to  live,  the  sword  will  never  dry  nor  the  musket 
rust.  I  also  realized  how  greatly  Agab  profited  by 
my  father's  death,  since  had  my  parent  lived,  and 


A   Tale    Half   Told.  8i 

had  he  been  acquainted  with  Agab,  his  great  love 
for  God  and  his  fellownian  would  not  have  per- 
mitted him  to  allow  Agab  his  liberty  and  freedom 
of  speech. 

There  were  one  or  two  female  servants  about  the 
castle ;  I  would  see  them  when  abroad  early,  scrub- 
bing the  stone  steps,  or  spreading  linen  on  the 
ground  to  bleach.  I  noticed  that  they  were  young, 
good  looking  women  of  very  large  person,  and 
very  little  clothing. 

One  morning  I  stopped  to  take  breakfast  with 
Agab  in  his  grass  hut.  He  drew  the  table  to  a 
place  in  the  low  room  where  I  Avas  able  to  see 
through  the  open  door  one  of  the  young  women 
dressed  in  a  rose  colored  chemise,  and  gathering 
berries  from  the  garden  for  the  castle  table.  Agab 
made  me  a  pot  of  tea,  for  I  do  not  like  coffee,  and 
he  put  honey  on  my  melon,  which  made  a  very 
queer  tasting  dish,  and  nuts  on  my  goat's  flesh. 
As  he  moved  about  I  was  struck  with  a  something 
familiar  about  him  that  I  had  never  remarked  be- 
fore ;  suddenly  I  exclaimed,  "Agab,  you  are " 

then  I  stopped.  ' 

For  answer  he  opened  a  closet  door,  and  taking 
out  a  long  black  cloak  and  cashmere  scarf,  he 
spread  them  before  me. 

"You  escaped?" 

"Yah,  yah,  your  highness,  I  escaped  and  was 
wandermg  m  the  mountains  when  I  fell  in  with 
the  prince's  men.  I  never  call  him  king  for  he  was 
not  fairly  made  king,  though  he  is  prince  and  the 
next  m  line;  here  the  king  is  proclaimed  through 
the  ballot,  and  not  always  the  heir  direct  gets  the 
most  votes,  and  even  the  adopted  son  of  a  monarch 


82  A   Talc    Half   Told, 

can  be  crowned  if  be  is  named  before  the  king's 
death." 

"You  fell  in  with  the  prince's  party  and  they 
took  you  along  with  them  ?" 

"Yah,  yah,  your  highness ;  they  carried  you  with 
them  in  a  hammock  strung  between  two  mules, 
for  it  is  not  possible  for  a  wagon  to  be  taken  across 
tlie  mountains,  and  Prince  Kameh  was  very  anxious 
about  you,  for  you  were  very  sick,  so  he  com- 
manded all  of  his  men  to  say  a  prayer  for  j^our  re- 
covery, and  they  knelt  down  and  told  their  beads. 
I  was  hidden  behind  a  rock,  and  while  they  prayed 
I  crept  out  and  looked  at  the  one  they  were  pray- 
ing for,  and  I  recognized  you;  when  they  had  fin- 
ished I  made  myself  known  to  them  as  a  hermit 
who  had  tired  of  living  alone  and  craved  the  com- 
panionship of  his  fellowman.  I  knew  the  prince 
by  sight,  but  I  did  not  know  how  3'ou  came  to  be 
with  them  or  what  had  happened  in  the  capital. 
The  Hawouitians  never  turn  from  the  stranger, 
and  they  bade  me  come  with  them." 

I  did  not  ask  him  whence  he  came  or  why  ho 
fled.  There  are  man}'  things  in  this  world  which 
we  may  not  know,  nor  in  the  next  unless  it  concerns 
us.  I  knew  him  for  an  old  man,  an  i^rab,  a  gen- 
tleman; further  than  that  was  not  my  affair.  He 
brought  me  a  square  cushion  covered  with  bright 
print,  and  filled  with  dried  seaweed,  which  he 
placed  beneath  my  feet;  then  we  sat  down  to  eat; 
I  at  table,  he  cross-legged  upon  the  floor,  and  while 
we  ate  he  was  to  relate  "The  History  of  Ganem, 
son  to  Abou  Ayoub,  surnamed  Love's  Slave." 

"Abou  Ayoub  was  a  merchant  of  Damascus,  who 
had,  by  care  and  industry  acquired  great  wealtli. 


'A   Tale    Half   Told.  83 

He  had  a  son,  a  very  accomplished  young  man, 
whose  name  was  Ganem,  afterward  called  Love's 
slave;  and  a  daughter " 

He  was  interrupted  by  the  dull  thud  of  horses' 
hoofs  striking  the  turf,  and  across  the  plain  sped 
a  wild  goat  panting  with  fear;  the  animal  was 
coming  toward  us,  and  I  could  see  that  he  was 
wounded ;  his  breath  whistled  through  his  nostrils, 
and  the  lust  of  life  looked  from  eyes  already  dark- 
ening Avith  the  shade  of  death.  After  him  dashed 
Kameh  Eoohk  and  his  huntsman  in  hunting  dress, 
the  prince  in  scarlet,  the  huntsman  in  green. 

"The  fellow  is  badly  hit,  he  can't  hold  out 
long!"  shouted  the  prince,  who  was  in  advance. 

A  straight  line  over  the  plain  to  the  hut  door 
was  cliosen  by  the  panting,  bleeding,  staggering 
creature  in  his  race  for  life;  behind  him  he  left  a 
broken,  gory  line,  damning  evidence  of  man's  in- 
humanity; from  his  side  I  could  see  as  he  drew 
nearer  a  dangling  vital,  for  he  had  been  shot  in  the 
bowels.  As  if  drawn  by  the  love  and  pity  that 
rushed  out  to  him  from  my  palpitating  heart,  he 
sprang  through  the  hut  door,  and  laid  his  head  at 
my  feet.  A  minute  later  the  prince  and  his  hunts- 
man sprang  from  their  horses  and  into  the  room. 
They  both  stood  still  on  seeing  me. 

"What  is  the  meaning  of  this?"  asked  Kameh 
Eoohk,  looking  from  Agab  to  me. 

I  knelt  beside  their  victim,  and  by  using  all  my 
strength  succeeded  in  lifting  his  head  to  my  arm. 

"Kill  him  quick,"  I  gasped. 

The  huntsman  stooped  and  drew  his  knife  across 
the  animal's   throat,  the  blood  poured  over  me. 


84  'A^   Tale    tialf    Told. 

there  was  a  last  sad  bleat  ending  in  a  gurgle,  then 
the  dying  eyes  looked  up  to  mine  and  all  was  over. 
I  threw  myself  upon  the  mangled  carcass,  and 
I  wept  as  though  my  heart  would  break. 


A   Tale    Halt   Told.  85 


CHAPTER  XII. 

CIVIL    WAR   IS   DECLARED. 

This  day  stands  out,  letter-red,  among  all  my 
memories  of  the  past.  Every  detail  is  as  fresh  in 
my  mind  as  though  it  happened  but  yesterday,  I 
see  the  low  room,  the  silent  Arab,  the  Jaunty  hunts- 
man m  his  suit  of  green,  the  magnificent  figure  of 
the  red-clad  prince  standing,  flushed  and  triumph- 
ant, with  the  gaudy  bow  in  his  gloved  hand,— and 
the  dead  beast  with  his  gaping  wounds  and  star- 
ing eyes.  No  one  spoke,  and  but  for  my  sobs  we 
might  have  been  a  painted  group. 

The  huntsman  was  the  first  to  speak. 

"This  is  Christ's  sweet  pity,"  he  said,  as  he 
bared  his  head. 

The  prince  held  out  his  hand  to  help  me  rise, 
but  I  ignored  it. 

"It  smells  of  blood,"  said  I,  as  I  took  my  hat  and 
passed  out. 

He  bit  his  lip  and  came  after  me,  calling  back  to 
his  huntsman  to  see  that  the  dead  beast  was  de- 
cently buried.  He  caught  up  with  me  and  we 
walked  along  together  while  I  dried  my  tears. 
Presently  he  asked  if  I  would  like  to  go  awav 

"That  depends,"  I  answered. 

"On  what?" 


86  A   Tale    Half   Told. 

"On  whom  I  go  with." 

"You  will  go  with  me." 

"Then  I  had  just  as  soon  remain  here ;  one  place 
in  hell  is  as  pleasant  as  another." 

"You  speak  strongly." 

"An  inherited  tendency,  my  father  was  a  force- 
ful orator." 

"You  are  also  bold." 

"That,  too,  is  the  fault  of  my  father ;  he  was  an 
intrepid  man." 

He  laughed,  then  clicked  his  teeth. 

"You  appear  to  forget  that  you  are  in  my  power." 

We  had  been  walking  not  toward  the  castle,  but 
toward  the  sea ;  now  the  waves  almost  lapped  our 
feet ;  not  a  soul  was  in  sight.  It  is  at  the  thought 
of  him  that  I  was  most  afraid;  when  actually  in 
his  presence  there  were  times  when  I  felt  invulner- 
able. 

"In  your  power !     How  so  ?" 

He  stooped  and  picked  up  a  shell. 

"You  see  this  shell." 

I  looked  at  it  scornfully. 

"Certainly." 

"There  is  nothing  to  prevent  my  crushing  it,  is 
there?" 

"Nothing  that  I  know  of." 

"Well,  you  are  as  much  in  my  power  as  this 
shell ;  you  are  my  wife,  the  law  is  back  of  me ;  again 
you  are  in  my  country,  and  here  I  am  lord ;  I  can 
do  with  you  as  I  will,  but  you  have  been  ill  and  I 
have  spared  you.  Now  all  that  is  changed ;  you  are 
strong  enough  to  present  me  with  the  point  of  a 
dagger,  and  strong  enough,  therefore,  to  take  up  tlie 
duties  of  a  wife;  do  you  know  of  anything  to  pre- 


A    Tale    Half    Told.  87 

vent  my  crushing  you  as  I  do  this  ?"  and  the  shell 
shivered  to  atoms  in  his  gloved  hand. 

"Yes,  the  will  of  God!" 

"God's  will  is  that  a  wife  submit  to  her  hus- 
band." 

"Then  in  this  instance  God's  will  shall  not  be 
done." 

"You  contradict  yourself;  first  you  invoke  the 
power  of  God,  then  you  rebuke  it ;  in  which  are  you 
sincere  ?" 

I  scorned  to  answer,  and  began  my  retreat  to  the 
castle.  He  did  not  come  with  me,  and  I  saw  him 
no  more  until  evening. 

The  day  had  been  cloudy,  and  it  grew  so  dark 
at  sundown  that  candles  were  lighted  in  all  the 
living  rooms  of  the  castle.  I  sat  near  the  grate 
in  the  wide,  bare  hall  and  counted  the  embers  as 
they  fell  from  the  burning  log.  Kameh  Eoohk 
came  in  and  threw  himself  on  a  rug  in  the  red  light. 
He  was  heavily  armed,  and  never  had  he  looked 
so  like  a  mighty  chief ;  verily  two  men  lived  in  this 
one,  the  jDolished  civilian,  and  the  princely  savage. 
He  stared  gloomily  at  the  fire,  and  still  more 
gloomily  at  me,  and  after  awhile  he  spoke. 

"Would  you  like  news  from  the  capital?" 

I  started,  and  looked  eagerly  at  him ;  he  laughed 
harshly. 

"It  is  evident  from  your  face  that  you  would; 
well,  the  civil  war  which  has  been  threatening  since 
the  first  rise  of  the  republic,  is  at  length  declared, 
and  the  Ecpublican  array  marches  against  the  forces 
of  the  Crown." 

I  leaned  forward,  cold  with  a  new  fear. 

"Does  the  President  accompany  the  army?" 


88  A    Tale    Half    Told. 

''Set  your  mind  at  rest  on  that  score,"  he 
sneered,  "3'^our  pink  and  white  chosen  representa- 
tive of  the  people  will  not  expose  his  life." 

"He  is  no  coward,"  I  rejoined  hotly. 

"What  proof  have  you  of  that?" 

"Had  he  been  a  coward,"  I  replied,  "he  would  not 
himself  have  carried  the  appointment  to  the  min- 
ister of  the  interior,  since  in  doing  so  he  was 
obliged  to  penetrate  into  the  very  heart  of  the 
enemy's  country." 

He  made  no  reply,  and  after  a  few  minutes  I 
asked : 

"How  do  you  think  it  will  end?" 

"It  is  impossible  to  say;  the  Eepublicans  are  for 
the  most  part  foreigners,  refuse  washed  from  the 
shores  of  otlier  lands ;  while  the  natives  are  for  a 
native  king.  'Hawouitia  for  the  Hawouitians'  is 
their  battle  cry." 

"Have  the  royalists  had  an  election?" 

"Yes." 

"And  you  are  their  chosen  king?" 

"Yes."" 

Another  silence,  and  then  I  asked  sharply: 

"Well,  aren't  you  going?" 

He  stretched  his  superb  length  on  the  rug  and 
looked  at  me  through  narrowed  lids. 

"Don't  be  impatient;  after  dinner  will  do;  you 
see  I  need  not  to  ask  where  when  you  inquire  if  I 
am  going;  I  know  where  you  wish  me  to  go,  and 
I  know  why  you  wish  it.  Many  ride  forth  to  battle 
who  never  return ;  but  it  is  not  because  you  wish  it 
that  I  go,  but  because  I  am  a  Hawouitian,  and  be- 
cause I  come  from  a  line  of  kings." 

I  had  no  response  ready,  and  shortly  after  we 


A   Tale    Half   Told.  89 

went  into  dinner.  Not  a  syllable  did  we  exchange 
tlironghont  the  meal,  but  when  a  half  hour  later 
he  passed  me  in  the  hall  on  his  way  upstairs,  I  was 
prompted  to  say: 

"Good-bye,  Kameh  Eoohk,  I  can  not  wish  you 
victorious,  for  my  sympathies  are  elsewhere." 

"I  will  see  you  before  I  go,"  he  replied,  while 
ascending  the  stairs. 

I  took  instant  alarm. 

"You  will  not  see  me  again  to-night,  for  I  am 
tired  and  shall  retire  immediately." 

I  fancied  he  smiled,  and  terror  lent  wings  to  my 
imagination.  Perhaps  he  intended  taking  me  with 
him,  fearing  lest  I  might  escape  in  his  absence. 
I  sped  up  the  stairs  to  my  room  and  bolted  the  door 
after  me.  I  also  took  the  precaution  to  push  a 
heavy  bureau  up  against  it,  though  I  had  great 
difficulty  in  doing  so;  then  I  knelt  by  the  window 
in  the  dark  to  wait  until  I  should  hear  him  ride 
away,  and  to  pray.  But  I  could  think  of  nothing  to 
say  to  God,  and  as  the  minutes  passed  and  no 
sound  came  from  the  directon  of  the  stables,  and 
Black  Lily  did  not  come  to  see  if  I  wanted  any- 
thing, as  was  her  custom,  my  fear  increased.  The 
silence,  which  once  filled  me  with  longings  to  speak, 
now  froze  the  prayer  on  my  lips.  The  very  soli- 
tude was  charged  with  threats.  I  raised  my  face 
to  the  heavens ;  no  help  there !  I  looked  to  left,  I 
looked  to  right,  fore  and  aft,  at  the  gi'ound  beneath 
my  window,  and  once  more  to  the  heavens  above. 
"Oh,  God  protect  me !"  I  cried,  and  buried  my 
face  on  my  arms. 

How  long  I  knelt  there  I  do  not  know,  but  I  tell 
you  solemnly  that  when  I  raised  my  head  I  was  not 


90  A   Tale    Half   Told. 

alone.  Against  the  darkness  stood  a  shape,  and  it 
told  me  that  it  and  I  were  twain.  It  was  stripped 
naked,  and  burned  with  a  glory  passing  the  belief 
of  man ;  it  Avore  my  features,  but  they  shone  as  re- 
flecting the  kiss  of  God ;  the  body  was  of  most  ex- 
quisite fashioning,  and  of  a  transparency  rivaling 
the  purest  pearl,  yet  I  knew,  not  knowing  how  I 
knew,  that  nor  wind,  nor  wave,  nor  grip  of  iron, 
nor  band  of  steel  could  break  that  delicate  shell. 
No  fire  consume,  no  dagger  thrust  empty  the  life 
within  that  structure.  No  deed  of  shame,  no  crime 
could  leave  their  blot  upon  that  wondrous  temple; 
from  eternity,  untainted,  it  came,  through  eternity 
unharmed  it  would  walk,  for  eternity  it  would  en- 
dure. And  amazed,  my  fear  gone,  I  gazed  in  awe 
and  profoundest  admiration  imtil  at  length  I  said : 

"Whom  makest  thou  thyself?" 

When,  lo,  the  shape  waxed  brighter,  and  a  voice 
that  was  part  of  my  own  replied : 

"Behold!  I  am  thou,  be  not  afraid!" 

And  then  I  knew  that  I  beheld  my  soul,  and 
that  naked  and  alone  I  stood  with  God. 

Now  a  great  calm  took  possession  of  me,  and  I 
rose  and  lit  the  two  candles  on  the  shelf,  and  pre- 
pared for  bed. 

I  was  no  longer  afraid,  and  as  proof  of  my  con- 
fidence in  a  Power  above  I  pushed  the  bureau  back 
to  its  place  between  the  windows.  I  was  occupied 
with  setting  to  rights  the  articles  upon  it  which  had 
been  disarranged  by  its  moving,  wlien,  in  the  glass, 
I  saw  a  door  open  in  the  wall  behind  me  where  there 
was  no  door,  and  Kamoh  Eoohk  entered.  I  stood 
perfectly  still,  staring  at  him  in  the  glass,  my  face 
white,  my  night  dress  white,  my  hair  hanging  in  a 


A   Tale    Half   Told.  91 

braid  over  one  shoulder.  Even  in  my  surprise  I 
did  not  fail  to  notice  what  a  sorry  figure  I  made  by 
the  side  of  him,  in  his  coat  of  gray  and  gold,  scarlet 
pants,  and  high,  shining  boots.  From  his  shoul- 
ders swung  a  feathered  cloak  with  a  velvet  lining, 
and  he  carried  jewelled  pistols  in  his  belt,  and  a 
sv.'ord  in  a  jewelled  scabbard  at  his  side.  So  splen- 
did a  figure  I  had  never  beheld! 

I  talked  at  the  glass. 

"Has  your  friend,  the  sorceress,  revealed  to  you 
the  secret  of  her  art,  that  you  enter  a  room  through 
its  walls?" 

He  looked  surprised,  he  had  evidently  expected 
me  to  be  too  frightened  to  speak,  then  the  room  was 
filled  with  his  ringing  laugh. 

"By  the  bones  of  my  fathers !  but  there  isn't  a 
white  featlicr  about  you ;  I  was  afraid  you  might 
faint,  which  would  have  delayed  my  departure  since 
a  man  does  not  like  to  leave  his  wife  unconscious." 

I  began  fixing  the  things  on  the  bureau  all  over 
again. 

"Well,  now  that  you  are  here,  and  I  am  not  un- 
conscious, what  do  yon  want?" 

"You." 

"]\re." 

Although  my  real  self  was  somewhere  else,  about 
me  perhaps,  but  not  in  me,  and  I  felt  like  one  in  a 
dream,  I  remember  perfectly  picking  up  a  hand- 
mirror,  and  polishing  it  energetically  with  the 
sleeve  of  my  gown.     I  still  faced  the  looking  glass. 

"You,"  he  repeated,  coming  close  to  me  and  lift- 
ing my  braid,  "you,  body,  soul  and  mind." 

"Well,  don't  pull  my  hair,"  I  said  dryly,  trying 
to  draw  the  braid  from  his  grasp. 


92  A    Tale    Half   Told. 

"I  shall  if  you  attempt  to  take  it  from  me,"  he 
replied,  half  smiling.  "Oh,  Thalia,  I  want  you ! 
you,  yourself;  your  body  is  here,  is  mine,  I  may 
deck  or  reck  it  at  my  will ;  your  soul !  you  have  no 
soul ;  you  arc  an  elfish  sprite  who  wished  itself  into 
a  woman's  form,  but  your  mind, — ah,  there  I  am 
met  by  a  force  l)efore  which  I  am  powerless !  That 
strange,  compelling,  elusive  thing!  that  something 
which  is  nothing,  and  yet  in  you  all  things !  to  be 
able  to  grasp  it,  hold  it,  force  it  into  channels  of 
my  own  choosing,  pin  its  thoughts  to  me,  Kameh 
Roohk,  and  compel  them  to  dwell  upon  nothing  else, 
that  is  what  I  desire." 

"What  ravings !" 

"I  know  it,"  and  he  laughed  sadly. 

"How  much  longer  are  you  going  to  stay?"  I 
demanded,  shivering.    "I  am  cold," 

He  went  to  the  window  and  closed  it,  then  took 
off  his  cloak  and  Iniekled  it  on  me.  It  is  the  only 
time  in  my  life  tliat  I  was  ever  dressed  like  a 
savage, 

"Do  you  remember  the  night  we  were  married  ?" 

"I  shall  never  forget  it  while  we  both  live,"  I 
replied. 

"I  held  your  hand  like  this,  and  I  drew  you  to 
me  across  the  table  like  this," 

His  hand  closed  over  mine,  and  he  began  pulling 
me  toward  him,  although  I  held  back-  with  all  my 
strength ;  the  strain  on  my  arm  made  it  ache,  I 
uttered  a  sharp  cry,  but  he  only  smiled,  and  his  hold 
tightened.  I  was  no  longer  the  white  wife  of 
Kameh  Roohk,  a  Christian  gentleman,  but  the 
squaw  of  a  lustful  prince.  I  felt  my  fear  return 
two-fold,  and  the  dank  moisture  start  from  beneath 


A    Tale    Half    Told.  93 

my  hair.  I  began  to  cast  about  in  my  mind  for 
some  means  of  escape.  He  drew  me  nearer  and 
nearer ;  not  by  jerks,  but  slowly,  as  if  enjoying  the 
pain  he  inflicted. 

"You  hurt  me,"  I  panted. 
"I  know  it,"  he  smiled. 

My  frightened  gaze  had  been  riveted  upon  his 
face,  and  his  eyes  never  left  mine ;  now  he  turned 
his  head  to  see  if  the  bureau  on  which  he  leaned 
was  solid  against  the  wall,  and  my  glance  thus  re- 
lieved, fell  to  his  belt  and  the  jewelled  revolver 
thrust  in  it.  I  have  mentioned  in  a  previous  chap- 
ter that  I  am  quick  to  think  and  equally  quick  to 
act;  in  one  instant  three  things  had  happened.  He 
turned  his  head,  I  saw  the  revolver,  and  the  re- 
volver was  in  my  hand;  he  felt  the  wrench,  he 
faced  about  and  struck  up  my  arm.  The  shot  rang 
through  the  apartment. 

When  the  smoke  cleared  he  was  leaning  against 
the  bureau,  smiling,  and  with  folded  arms.  That 
bureau  certainly  played  a  star  part  in  that  night's 
drama. 

"Another  good  bullet  gone  wrong,"  he  laughed. 
My  father  had  taught  me  the  use  of  firearms, 
telling  me  at  the  same  time  that  if  an  hour  should 
come  when  he  had  gone  before,  and  I  was  placed  at 
the  mercy  of  savages,  I  must  not  hesitate  between 
dishonor  and  death.  He  impressed  upon  my  mind 
at  the  same  time,  however,  the  importance  of  never 
turning  a  weapon  upon  myself  while  it  could  be 
used  to  advantage  upon  another,  for  my  father  was 
a  philosopher.  I  cocked  the  pistol  again,  and 
pointed  it  at  Kameh  Eoohk. 
"Will  you  go  ?" 


94  'A    Tale    Half    Told. 

"Not  to-night;  you  have  inspired  me  with  the 
desire  to  remain  until  morning." 

A  new  idea  struck  me;  I  pressed  the  muzzle  of 
the  Aveapon  I  held  to  my  temple. 

"Hold,"  he  cried  loudly,  "would  you  destroy 
yourself  ?" 

That  was  not  my  intention,  but  it  had  the  ef- 
fect I  intended. 

"Eather  than  submit  to  you,  yes." 

"My  God,  are  you  mad?" 

"  'For  oppression  maketh  the  wise  man  mad,' " 
I  quoted. 

His  face  was  ghastly  in  its  golden  pallor;  he 
shrugged  his  shoulders  and  laughed  while  he  swore. 

"I  am  out-generaled,"  he  said ;  "it  is  a  pity  after 
all  that  you  are  a  woman,  you  have  the  artfulness 
of  the  politician,  the  heartlessness  of  a  commander, 
and  the  daring  of  a  born  soldier;  in  you  history 
has  been  done  out  of  a  rival  Napoleon." 

"Good-bye,"  I  said,  still  holding  the  revolver  to 
my  head. 

He  passed  to  the  secret  door.  "Good-bye,"  and 
the  wall  closed  after  him. 

I  moved  the  bureau  to  that  place  in  the  wall, 
and  put  the  revolver  under  my  pillow.  A  few  min- 
utes later  I  heard  the  tramp  of  horses'  feet,  and  I 
knew  he  had  gone. 


A    Tale    Half    Told.  95 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

I   LISTEN    TO    A    STRANGE    STORY. 

The  days  passed  into  weeks,  and  not  a  ripple 
from  the  world's  ocean  touched  the  shores  of  my 
isolation.  The  castle  was  like  a  deserted  fortress 
disturbed  no  more  by  wars  or  rumors  of  war. 
Evenings  were  now  grown  too  cool  to  sit  out  of  doors, 
and  I  brought  books  into  the  hall  and  read,  or  lay 
on  the  rug  where  Kameh  Eoohk  had  lain,  and 
watched  the  fire ;  making  soldiers  of  the  red  em- 
bers, and  breastworks  of  the  charred  coals.  Two 
great  armies  lay  opposite  each  other  and  contended 
for  that  which  to  each  seemed  most  right;  the  one 
for  democracy,  the  other  for  a  crown.  I  knew 
upon  which  side  my  father  would  have  stood,  and 
I  recalled  what  I  had  read  of  the  wars  of  semi- 
civilized  nations ;  of  infants  impaled  and  carried  as 
standards  before  the  army,  of  women  and  children 
slaughtered  and  their  bodies  thrown  to  the  dogs, 
and  I  wondered  whose  blood  flowed  swiftest  beyond 
the  gigantic  walls  that  divided  me  from  this 
scourge  of  fire  and  sword.  I  laid  it  all  to  Kameh 
Eoohk,  and  I  shook  my  finger  menacingly  at  a 
fiery,  hissing  brand. 

"  'Woe  to  the  crown  of  pride,  to  the  drunkards  of 


96 


A   Tale    Half    Told. 


Epliraim,  whose  glorious  beauty  is  a  fading  flower, 
which  are  the  head  of  the  fat  valleys  of  them  that 
arc  overcome  with  wine.'  " 

How  fared  the  Eepiiblican  army  and  how  the 
Crown's?  As  the  weeks  went  by  I  began  to  believe 
that  the  Eepublic  must  have  conquered,  for,  had  the 
Crown  won  Kameh  Eoohk  would  have  been  after 
me  to  take  me  to  the  palace  at  New  Babylon.  Yes, 
the  King's  army  was  defeated,  and  the  King  dead. 
I  was  free,  alone,  and  might  pass  the  remainder  of 
my  days  in  peace  and  solitude.  The  thouglit 
brought  rest,  and  a  touch  of  sadness,  for  I  pros- 
pected into  the  future,  and  I  saw  the  loneliness  of 
juiddle  life.  There  comes  a  time  to  each  and  all 
when  every  joy  is  shadowed  by  a  vague  unrest.  It 
is  that  season  when  the  first  hot  breath  of  life's 
summer  has  brushed  the  bloom  from  the  spring- 
time of  our  youth,  and  ere  yet  we  enter  into  the 
autumn  of  our  years.  With  the  advance  of  autumn 
comes  resignation,  a  passive  waiting  for  the  winter 
of  our  days;  but,  ah,  the  sadness  of  departing 
spring !  the  hopclessnes  of  coming  age !  I  would 
know  no  joys  to  shadow,  but  the  sadness  would  be 
mine,  and  the  memory  of  my  martyred  youth. 

Sometimes  I  would  send  Black  Lily  to  fetch 
Agab,  for  it  amused  me  to  watch  her  rolling  eyes, 
and  hear  her  exclamations  as  he  unfolded  his  mar- 
vellous tales.  I  remember  it  was  "The  Story  of 
Little  Hunchback"  that  he  was  relating  on  that 
evening  when  the  first  news  of  the  doings  of  an 
outside  world  penetrated  our  little  circle.  I  sat 
in  front  of  the  grate.  Black  Lily  occupied  a  chair 
on  my  right,  and  Agab  was  cross-legged  on  the 
floor  at  my  left;  they  both  started  when  we  heard 


A    Tale    Half    Told.  97 

the  thud  of  horses'  feet,  muffled  by  the  softness  of 
the  wet  earth,  for  it  was  raining. 

'■'Sit  still,"  I  said  sternly,  though  I  felt  my 
cheeks  go  white,  "it  is  the  prince  and  his  men." 

There  was  a  confused  mingling  of  voices  outside, 
then  a  sharp  command  at  which  my  heart  stood 
still;  at  the  same  moment  the  gardener  and  the 
stable  boy,  the  two  domestics  and  the  Chinese  cook 
came  tumbling  into  the  hall. 

"Sweet  Virgin,  Mother  of  God !"  groaned  the 
stable  boy  in  chorus  with  the  gardener,  while  the 
Chinaman's  braid  expressed  that  which  his  trem- 
bling lips  could  not  utter,  and  Black  Lily  crossed 
herself  to  ward  off  the  impending  disaster,  though 
she  knew  not  its  nature.  I  rose  to  my  feet,  as  did 
the  Arab,  and  we  all  gazed  breathlessly  at  the  door 
opening  from  the  stable  yard.  The  hall  ran  the 
length  of  the  house  and  had  two  doors,  one  at  the 
front  and  one  at  the  back;  it  was  upon  the  latter 
that  all  eyes  were  fixed  when  it  swung  back  to  ad- 
mit a  cloaked  and  mud-splashed  figure;  his  spurs 
clicked  on  the  floor,  and  the  sound  of  scabbard 
striking  wet  boots  made  sharp,  quick  reports  as  he 
walked.  Old  Agab  stepped  between  me  and  the 
advancing  form,  and  Black  Lily,  not  to  be  outdone 
in  demonstrations  of  devotion,  placed  her  larger 
shape  before  his.  But  I  passed  them  both,  and 
went  to  meet  him,  for  he  took  ofE  his  hat  and  I 
recognized  the  President.  I  passed  to  the  shelter 
of  his  wet  cloak  and  he  kissed  me. 

"Are  you  glad  to  see  me,  pale  enchantress?"  he 
asked. 

I  nestled  closer,  and  he  laughed,  and  laid  his 
cheek  upon  my  hair. 


98  A    Tale    Half    Told. 

"I  have  searched  for  you  long,"  he  said,  as  he 
drew  me  to  a  seat  beside  him  on  the  stair,  "I  have 
worn  this  heart  out  in  calling  you,"  and  he  pressed 
me  near  so  I  felt  its  beating  against  my  arm. 

"Tell  me  how  you  discovered  my  whereabouts," 
for  I  had  forgotten  the  double  barrier  that  divided 
us. 

"From  a  prisoner  whom  I  tortured  until  he  re- 
vealed the  hiding  place  of " 

"Oh,  how  could  you  ?"  and  I  began  to  think  that 
not  only  savages  are  inhuman,  and  freed  myself 
from  his  embrace.  At  the  same  time  my  feelings 
cooled  so  that  I  remembered  his  wife,  and  my — I 
mean  Kameh  Roohk. 

"Come  back  here;  what  are  you  doing  over 
there?" 

"This  is  whore  I  should  have  been  all  along,"  re- 
turned I  with  hauteur. 

"What !  why,  you  little  rebel !" 

"Now  don't  make  me  angry,"  I  warned,  as  he 
stretched  out  his  arm. 

"Go  on  with  your  story "  I  said  five  minutes 
later,  glancing  to  where  he  kept  silence  in  his 
corner. 

"You've  thrown  me  off  the  track." 

"Well,  did  it  hurt?  the  prisoner  I  mean,"  I 
prompted,  in  order  to  encourage  his  memory. 

"Oh,  the  prisoner,  well,  a  little." 

"He  suffered  ?" 

"No  more  than  I  suffered  not  knowing  how 
fared  you." 

"How  is  it  with  the  armies  ?" 

"The  forces  of  the  Crown  are  pretty  well  cut  up. 


A   Tale    Half   Told.  99 

and  if  wc  could  capture  their  chief  war  would  be  at 
an  end." 

"And  you  left  your  army  to  come  to  me?" 

"For  that  reason,  and  one  other/' 

"What  other?" 

"We  are  not  alone,"  he  said,  glancing  at  the 
wondering  servants. 

I  bade  them  all  go. 

"Sit  on  my  knee,"  he  said  when  we  were  alone, 
and  he  had  appropriated  the  only  chair  near  the 
fire. 

I  shook  my  head,  so  he  drew  forward  the  chair 
he  had  pushed  into  a  corner. 

"I  forget  in  my  joy  at  finding  you  again  that  you 
do  not  know  all.  Thalia,  do  you  remember  the 
last  night  we  were  together?  I  kissed  you  in  the 
dark  of  the  court  vard,  and  you  said  that  you  loved 
me." 

"I  love  you." 

"And  I  love  you !  I  have  never  uttered  those 
words  to  any  other  woman,  for  early  in  manhood  I 
was  yoked  to  another's  sin.  Thalia,  my  brother 
Eichard  married  his  wife  Anne  before  he  took 
orders;  our  families  were  very  intimate,  and  the 
couple  grew  up  with  the  understanding  that  they 
were  ordained  for  each  other.  Richard  is  five 
years  my  senior,  and  more  generously  endowed  by 
nature  than  myself.  He  was  the  pride  of  the  Crane 
family,  and  I  loved  him  as  I  loved  my  life.  While 
he  was  yet  in  curate's  garb,  and  I  in  my  twentieth 
year,  we  came  to  Hawouitia  on  a  pleasure  cruise ;  I 
was  a  student  at  Oxford  and  several  of  my  college- 
mates  accompanied  us.  We  dropped  anchor  at 
New  Babylon,  and  Eichard,  who  was  never  very 


loo  A    Tale    Half    Told. 

fond  of  yachting,  decided  to  look  about  on  land 
while  we  pushed  further  along  the  coast;"  he 
paused,  stretched  out  his  feet  to  tlio  grate,  clasped 
his  hands  back  of  his  head,  and  looked  steadily  at 
the  smouldering  ashes,  then  he  resumed,  "when  we 
stopped  for  him  on  our  way  back,  we  found  him  not 
quite  ready  to  return.  The  climate  agreed  with 
him,  he  said,  and  as  he  was  not  strong,  having 
studied  beyond  his  strength  to  get  his  orders,  he 
thought  it  wise  to  remain  a  few  weeks  longer.  He 
gave  me  a  letter  and  presents  for  Anne  and  bade 
me  tell  her  not  to  be  alarmed ;  the  boys  bade  him 
good-bvo,  I  embraced  him,  and  we  parted." 

Again  he  paused. 

"I  returned  to  England  and  called  at  once  upon 
my  sister-in-law;  I  told  her  that  Eichard's  health 
was  much  improved  by  the  mild  but  invigorating 
air  of  Hawouitia,  and  that  he  hoped  shortly  to  be  as 
strong  as  myself,  his  unworthy  brother.  Darling, 
I  shall  never  forget  that  woman's  face  while  I  was 
speaking;  she  rlid  not  interrupt  me,  but  when 
I  had  finished  she  threw  the  letter  on  the  floor 
without  opening  it,  and  stamped  upon  it.  On  the 
next  vessel  bound  to  Hawouitia  she  sailed,  never 
saying  a  word  to  me  of  her  intention.  My  first  in- 
timation of  it  was  a  cablegram  from  Richard  bid- 
ding me  come  at  once.  When  I  stepped  upon  the 
quay  he  was  there  to  meet  mo,  and  Anno  was  with 
him,  hanging  upon  his  arm,  and  evidently  deter- 
mined that  Ave  should  have  no  word  together  alone. 

"  'Eobert,'  said  he,  'Anne  is  disposed  to  doubt  my 
word,  and  accuses  me  of  the  crime  of  bigamy;  she 
threatens  vengeance,  and  swears  that  her  very  love 
would  render  mercy  impossible.     In  vain  I  have 


A   Tale    Half    Told.  loi 

told  her  that  Eleanor  is  >our  wife,  the  house  yours, 
and  I  but  a  boarder  there.' 

"  'And  Eleanor,'  I  interrupted,  for  I  had  been 
looking  in  his  eye,  and  letter  by  letter,  I  spelled 
the  truth. 

"  'She  corroborates  my  statement,  but  Anne  will 
have  no  word  but  yours.' 

"  'Why  should  you  doubt  their  word  and  take 
mine?'  I  asked,  turning  to  my  sister-in-law. 

"  'Because  though  I  know  you  for  a  fool,  Bob,  I 
yet  credit  you  with  too  much  wit  to  burden  yourself 
with  the  mistress  and  brat  of  another  man.' 

"I  felt  the  nerves  in  my  body  jump,  and  I  ut- 
tered an  oath.  'Besides,'  she  continued,  eyeing  me 
suspiciously,  *I  shall  not  take  your  unsupported 
word.' 

"  'What  proof  do  you  require  beyond  the  word 
of  the  woman  you  suspect  your  husband  of  wrong- 
ing?   Surely  she  would  be  the  last  to  shield  him.' 

"She  laughed  scornfully,  and  persons  near  looked 
at  us  in  some  surprise.  Every  one  but  ourselves 
was  hurrying  to  his  destination,  and  I  took  her  by 
the  arm  and  began  elbowing  a  way  through  the 
crowd. 

"  'Perhaps  she  hasn't  been  so  deeply  wronged ;  a 
woman  isn't  likely  to  admit  herself  the  mistress  of 
a  married  man,  and  her  expected  brat  an  outcast, 
if  she  can  find  some  name  behind  which  to  screen 
herself.' 

"She  said  this  on  our  way  to  the  carriage ;  Rich- 
ard pressed  my  arm  as  I  took  my  seat,  and  I  saw 
that  he  was  deathly  pale.  I  did  not  know  where 
the  house  he  alluded  to  was,  whether  in  New  Baby- 
Ion  or  in  some  other  town.     He  knew  that  I  must 


I02  A    Tale    Half   Told. 

be  thinking  of  this,  and  hastened  to  enlighten  me. 

"  'We  will  go  to  my  rooms  in  Hotel  L'Oecident, 
that  you  may  rest  before  our  long  drive/ 

"  'Tell  me  the  meaning  of  this/  I  commanded, 
the  instant  we  were  left  alone. 

"I  will  not  weary  you  with  his  broken  words ;  he 
was  a  weak  man,  a  guilty  man,  but  he  is  not  a 
wicked  one ;  he  met  Eleanor,  the  woman  known  for 
ten  years  as  my  wife ;  they  loved  at  sight,  and  he 
married  her  knowing  he  had  a  wife  in  England. 
That  he  was  temporarily  mad  to  do  such  a  thing 
I  must  believe.  When  that  wife  came,  spurred  on 
by  Jealousy,  he  took  refuge  behind  my  name ;  I  do 
not  think  he  would  have  done  so  had  it  not  been 
for  our  aged  father,  since  dead.  He  was  the  old 
man's  idol,  and  it  would  have  brought  his  gray 
hairs  in  dishonor  to  the  grave.  He  sought  not  to 
palliate  his  crime,  nor  could  anything  be  said  in 
its  palliation ;  he  was  a  felon,  a  cur ;  I  knew  no 
mercy  could  be  expected  irom  Anne,  and  that  he 
must  be  in  prison  should  she  know  the  truth,  nor 
do  I  much  blame  her.  And  Eleanor !  what  sliall 
I  say  of  this  queen  of  all  created  women !  her  char- 
ity, her  nobility,  her  greatness  of  soul  were  an  in- 
spiration, and  I  am  a  better  mah  for  having  known 
her.  She  set  me  an  example  of  self-sacrifice  and 
forgiveness,  and  but  feebly  have  I  imitated  her. 
You  will  say  that  she  had  her  child  to  think  of, 
the  little  stranger  then  unborn ;  true,  but  in  all 
these  years  no  word  of  reproach  has  fallen  from  her 
lips.  I  do  not  know  if  she  still  loves  him ;  some- 
times I  think  not,  and  my  love  for  him  died  on  that 
day  when  I  learned  what  he  was.  I  did  not  wish  to 
return  to  England,  so  gave  up  college,  and  to  for- 


A   Tale    Half    Told.  103 

get  myself  plunged  into  jjolitics.  I  became  an  agi- 
tator, and  a  republic  grew  out  of  my  personal  dis- 
content; when  my  father  died  four  years  ago  Hich- 
ard  and  his  wife  came  to  Hawouitia  to  live,  and 
built  the  Church  of  the  Advent,  of  which  he  is 
pastor."  He  turned  his  eyes  on  me.  "For  ten 
years  my  life  was  not  unbearable;  I  loved  no  wo- 
man, I  was  fond  of  Agnes,  and  I  revered  her 
mother;  then,  one  irrevocable  day,  I  rode  to  my 
fate,  or  rather  we  rode  to  each  other,  my  fate  and  I, 
our  paths  converged,  and  the  meaning  of  life  was 
revealed.  Even  the  beasts  we  rode  knew  that  this 
was  no  common  meeting,  but  the  fulfilment  of  an 
event  which  had  been  predestined  from  the  founda- 
tion of  the  world;  they  bore  themselves  jauntily, 
for  they  also  knew  that  they  had  accomplished  the 
thing  for  Avhich  they  had  been  created,"  he  stretched 
out  his  hand,  and  I  left  my  seat  for  his  knee,  "I 
met  my  fate,  my  fate  met  hers ;  borne  on  the  waves 
of  destiny  we  were  lodged  beneath  one  roof.  It 
was  permitted  me  to  see  her  daily,  but  she  avoided 
me,  and  fought  against  her  heart;  believing  me 
another's  she  thought  me  base " 

"No,  no,"  I  interrupted. 

"Yes,  yes,"  he  smiled,  "base  and  unkind  because 
I  pursued  her  that  I  might  feast  my  heart  upon 
that  which  she  could  not  conceal;  ah,  sweetheart, 
your  every  glance  was  eloquent  of  the  love  you 
strove  to  hide ;  you  believed  me  a  married  man,  but 
even  then,"  he  turned  my  face  to  him,  "even  then 
you  would  have  gone  with  me  to  the  end  of  the 
world,  had  I  been  base  enough  to  require  it;  yes, 
you  would,"  he  continued,  as  I  shook  my  head, 
"you  would,  for  in  doing  so  you  would  have  been 


I04  A    Tale    Half    Told. 

acting  in  conjunction  with  the  law  of  your  being, 
and  you  are  too  true  a  woman  to  act  against  it. 
You  would  have  gone  because  you  are  mine,  my 
other  half." 

"No,  Robert,  and  I  can  not  go  with  you  now," 
his  hold  on  me  tightened,  and  he  carried  my  hand 
to  his  lips  and  hold  it  there  while  I  spoke,  "the 
phantom  which  divided  us  still  exists,  and  by  its 
side  stalks  a  gaunt  reality,  for  I  am  bound  though 
you  be  free.  I  am  Kameh  Eoohk's  wife,  and 
though  I  loathe  him  I  do  not  lightly  esteem  my 
marriage  vows ;  I  know  what  you  would  say,"  as  I 
saw  him  about  to  speak,  "I  was  tricked  into  the 
marriage ;  agreed,  but  that  shall  not  make  me  false 
to  the  word  of  a  Demorest" — my  father  often  said 
that — "if  the  Republic  survives  you  are  still  its  pres- 
ident, and  3'ou  must  not  disgrace  yourself  before  a 
people  who  have  honored  you.  For  years  you  have 
lived  a  lie,  and  for  more  than  eighteen  months  you 
have  lived  it  in  the  public  eye;  you  have  gathered 
about  you  an  army  whose  hope  of  freedom  you  are, 
and  3'ou  must  not  reveal  your  weakness.  With  the 
blind,  unquestioning  faith  of  a  childish  race  they 
took  to  their  bosom  an  alien,  and  exalted  him; 
they  gave  him  the  highest  gift  it  was  in  their  power 
to  bestow,  and  he  must  not  be  the  one  to  rend  the 
bandage  from  their  eyes,  and  destroy  their  beauti- 
ful faith  in  brother-man  by  laying  bare  the  mistake 
they  made  in  reposing  trust  in  the  sons  of  the 
stranger." 

"Pardon  me  for  interrupting  you,"  he  said,  "but 
all  this  I  know,  yet  it  will  make  no  difference  in  the 
course  I  have  planned ;  if  the  revolution  terminates 
favorably  for  the  Republic  I  shall  tender  my  resig- 


A   Tale    Half    Told.  105 

nation;  if  the  Crown  is  victorious  then  I  will  have 
no  plans  to  carry  out,  and  no  resignation  to  send 
in,  all  that  will  be  settled  for  me  by  the  gibbet; 
but  I  shall  not  die  until  I  have  first  killed  him, 
that  you  too  may  be  free!" 

"Where  are  your  men  ?"  I  demanded,  for  it  sud- 
denly struck  me  as  stranccc  that  no  one  had  en- 
tered with  him. 

"They  are  at  their  several  posts  awaiting  the 
hour  of  action." 

"Why?  how?" 

"I  told  you  when  you  asked  if  I  had  left  my 
army  purposely  to  come  to  you,  that  I  had  for  that 
reason  and  one  other.  We  are  here  to  capture  the 
renegade  king!" 

"How  know  you  that  he  will  come  here  ?" 

"I  am  sure  of  it." 

"But  if  he  should  kill  you  ?" 

"Then  the  Crown  has  won." 

"Are  you  mad  to  thus  jeopardize  your  cause  ?" 

"That  my  person  is  of  such  vital  importance  to 
the  cause  is  the  more  reason  that  I  alone  could 
succeed;  the  greater  the  costs  of  defeat  the  more 
urgent  the  need  of  success.  I  fall,  the  Republic 
falls,  that  is  for  the  present,  until  the  people  find 
another  leader ;  therefore,  I  must  not  fall,  but  the 
king  must." 

"If  you  succeed  in  taking  him,  then  he  must 
die?" 

"He  secretly  worked  against  the  Republic  while 
its  sworn  official,  set  plots  afoot,  and  sacrificed  the 
greater  part  of  his  private  fortune  in  paying  ac- 
complices and  purchasing  arms  and  ammunition; 
there  is  but  one  way  to  deal  with  a  traitor.     But, 


io6  A   Tale    Half    Told. 

mi^on,  I  am  keeping  you  from  your  slumbers ;  go 
to  bed,  dear,  and  dream  of  me  while  I  watch  here 
and  think  of  you." 

"Eobert,"  I  said,  turning  on  the  first  stair  and 
laying  my  hand  on  hi.?  shoulder,  "would  you  feel 
very  badly  if  you  didn't  catcli  Kameh  Eoohk  ?" 

"Why,  darling,"  he  replied,  laughing  quizzically, 
"do  you  want  him  to  escape  ?" 

I  turned  away  without  answering,  and  he  stepped 
back  and  folded  his  arms;  I  glanced  back  half 
way  up  the  stairs,  and  he  was  looking  after  me ;  I 
tarried  at  the  head  but  he  did  not  call  me  back, 
and  when  a  minute  later  I  leaned  over  the  balus- 
trade of  the  upper  hall  I  saw  him  sink  dejectedly 
into  a  chair  and  lean  his  forehead  on  his  hand. 


A   Tale    Half    Told.  107 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

ENTER    KAMEH    ROOHK. 

I  WENT  to  my  room  but  not  to  bed.  Instead  I 
paced  the  floor,  stopping  every  little  while  at  the 
window  to  listen. 

What  if  the  prince  came  with  a  larger  force  than 
that  commanded  by  the  President?  The  thought 
paralyzed  my  brain.  Then  Kameh  Roohk  if  taken 
must  die.  I  had  no  reason  to  love  him,  but  now 
that  his  end  seemed  in  some  likelihood  near,  I  was 
willing  that  he  should  live. 

If  their  encounter  could  be  prevented !  Kameh 
Eoohk  could  be  met  and  persuaded  to  turn  back 
before  he  reached  the  castle,  by  a  story  of  superior 
numbers !  I  stopped  again  by  the  window ;  rain  was 
no  longer  falling,  but  it  was  misting  heavily.  I  lis« 
tened  and  could  hear  nothing;  a  profound  silence 
enveloped  the  night.  I  began  in  fancy  to  people  the 
air  with  noise  of  shot  and  shell,  with  curses  and  the 
groans  of  dying  men ;  with  his  groans — I  went 
swiftly  on  tip-toe  into  the  hall.  He  was  there,  sit- 
ting in  the  chair  before  the  grate  as  when  I  last 
looked,  and  I  crept  back  and  opened  my  closet  door. 
Hanging  upon  the  inside  was  a  long  black  garment ; 
I  threw  this  on,  drawing  the  hood  over  my  head. 
Then  I  looked  at  my  feet,  that  they  were  well  shod. 


io8  A    Talc    Half    Told. 

and  passed  stealthily  from  the  room.  There  were 
two  flights  of  stairs  directly  opposite  each  other, 
one  led  to  the  front  of  the  house,  the  other  to  the 
back ;  I  chose  the  latter  for  I  knew  that  I  could  not 
pass  the  figure  b}'  the  fire.  I  reached  the  foot  of 
the  stairs  without  making  a  sound,  and  just  as 
noiselessly  approached  the  door. 

"Thalia,"  called  Mr.  Crane,  without  turning, 
"where  are  you  going?" 

I  stood  stock  still,  and  my  heart  took  refuge  in 
my  mouth;  he  turned  now  and  looked  over  his 
shoulder  at  me. 

"Xowhere,"  I  said  guiltily,  dropping  my  hand 
from  the  latch  of  the  door. 

"Then  come  and  take  off  your  rubbers  and  cloak." 

"I — I — would  like  to  take  a  walk,"  I  stammered. 

"You  will  have  to  wait  until  morning,"  he  re- 
turned dryly. 

I  retraced  my  steps  to  the  stairs  which  I  had 
Just  descended. 

"Xot  up  there,"  he  said  coldly,  "here,"  and  he 
pointed  to  the  chair  opposite  him. 

I  felt  the  tears  back  of  my  lids  and  I  choked, 
for  I  guessed  what  was  passing  in  his  mind. 

"I  was  not  going  to  betray  you,"  I  burst  out. 

"Xo?" 

"No,  and  you  ought  to  be  ashamed  to  say  so." 

He  raised  his  eyebrows. 

"Have  I  said  so?" 

"No,  but  you  look  it,  and  I  will  not  be  thought 
wrong  of  when  I  meant  no  wrong ;  I  was  only  go- 
ing to  tell  Kameh  Eoohk  not  to  come  so  that  you 
might  not  meet  him  and  run  the  chance  of  being 
killed." 


A   Tale    Half    Told.  109 

The  blood  sprang  to  his  brow  and  he  left  his 
chair  for  mine. 

"Hark !"  I  cried,  for  a  sound  had  come  from 
without. 

"Go  to  your  room  and  do  not  come  out  while 
there  is  firing." 

"They  come,  sir,"  shouted  a  sentinel,  opening 
the  door,  and  in  a  moment  both  were  gone. 

Upon  my  knees  by  my  bed  I  prayed  that  God 
might  deliver  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Crane  Kameh 
Roohk  and  all  of  his  troopers,  that  not  a  man  of 
them  should  stand  up  before  him.  I  prayed  as 
never  in  my  life  I  had  prayed  before.  I  reminded 
the  Lord  of  all  that  He  had  done  for  the  children 
of  Israel,  and  implored  Him  to  repeat  Himself  in 
modern  history.  I  prayed  aloud,  and  in  my  ear- 
nestness my  voice  rose  and  rose,  until  it  seemed  to 
my  over\\TOught  senses  to  drown  the  din  outside, 
I  do  not  know  at  just  what  point  the  invocation  be- 
came a  threat,  but  I  suddenly  became  aware  that  I 
was  daring  Almighty  God  to  go  contrary  to  my 
will.  I  stopped,  my  arm  upraised  in  the  position 
I  had  held  it  while  shaking  my  fist  in  the  face  of 
my  Maker,  The  noise  without  had  ceased  and 
dead  quiet  reigned.  My  arm  dropped  to  the  coun- 
terpane, and  I  stared  across  the  bed  straight  into 
the  eyes  of  Kameh  Eoohk. 

"I  wonder  if  you  frightened  God,"  he  said 
laughing,  and  shrugging  his  shoulders,  "perhaps  it 
was  terror  that  paralyzed  His  arm,  thus  enabling  me 
to  gain  a  victory." 

"Have  3'ou  gained  one?"  I  asked. 

"I  have,  and  your  paramour  lies  downstairs 
with  a  bullet  in  him." 


no  A    Tale    Half    Told. 

I  gasped,  and  made  a  rush  for  the  door,  but  he 
placed  himself  before  it. 

''Oh,  he  is  not  dead !"  he  sneered,  'Tietter  for 
him  if  he  were;  I  might  have  killed  him  while  he 
lay  at  my  feet,  but  I  recollected  that  by  doing  so 
you  would  be  robbed  of  a  spectacle ;  besides  I  do  not 
like  to  run  a  brave  man  through  when  he  is  down. 
The  fellow  fought  well,  and  it  seems  a  pity  after  all 
to  give  such  blood  to  the  gibbet,  but  what  is  writ- 
ten must  be." 

"You  mean  to  hang  him  ?" 

"I  do." 

"How  soon  ?" 

"As  soon  as  he  is  sufficiently  recovered  of  his 
present  wound  to  fully  enjoy  the  situation ;  there  is 
little  pleasure  in  hanging  a  man  who  is  half  faint- 
ing from  pain,  but  you  shall  have  the  show,  never 
fear !" 

"You  may  go,"  I  said. 

"Thank  you,  I  am  really  much  fatigued,  still  I 
would  not  have  thought  of  going  without  your  per- 
mission." He  turned,  with  his  hand  on  the  knob  of 
the  door,  for  he  had  not  used  the  secret  panel. 
"Have  you  nothing  for  me  before  I  go?" 

I  would  not  answer  him. 

"Perhaps  I  can  offer  you  a  price,"  he  said,  ap- 
proaching me,  "one  hour  on  his  life  for  every  kiss; 
what  say  you,  how  many  am  I  to  have?". 

"As  many  as  you  will." 

"Given,  I  mean,  not  taken." 

"I  understand." 

"Twenty-four,"  he  said,  releasing  me.  "That  adds 
one  day  to  his  life;  hedies  now  the  day  after  to- 
morrow," and  he  shut  tiie  door  behind  him. 


A   Tale    Half   Told.  iii 

If  I  could  avert  tlie  end  until  help  could  be 
brought  from  the  army  of  the  Republic  !  I  walked 
the  floor  and  pressed  my  palms  to  my  temples.  I 
could  not  go  myself,  for  I  must  be  ready  to  ex- 
ercise every  spell  at  my  command,  and  if  need 
be 

I  went  to  the  bureau,  and  taking  from  an  upper 
drawer  the  revolver,  laid  it  convenient  to  my  hand ; 
then  I  lit  both  candles  and  placed  them  in  the 
window;  if  old  Agab  should  have  gone  to  his  hut 
he  would  see  them,  and  perhaps  know  they  were 
meant  as  a  signal  for  him.     Then  I  waited. 

I  watched  the  clock  tick  off  eleven  minutes,  then 
something  light  struck  against  the  window  pane. 
I  struck  out  the  lights  with  my  bare  hand,  and 
pushed  up  the  sash. 

"Agab,"  I  said  to  a  bush  beneath, 

"Hist !  speak  low,  there  are  watches  about." 

"Can  you  hear  me  like  this?"  I  whispered. 

"Yah,  yah." 

"Then  haste  to  the  stable,  take  what  looks  to 
you  the  swiftest  horse,  and  ride  with  all  speed  to 
the  Republican  camp " 

"Yah,  yah,  but  Where  are  they?" 

"They  are  in  possession  of  the  town  of  Oaue, 
but  you  may  have  to  pass  through  the  enemy's 
lines ;  do  you  dare  ?"' 

"Yah,  yah,  Oaue;  I  reach  Oaue,  what  then?" 

"Tell  the  one  in  command  there  that  if  he  would 
save  his  leader  he  must  march  on  this  place  with- 
out delay  with  the  full  strength  of  the  regiments 
at  his  command;  tell  him  that  he  will  both  save 
the  President  and  capture  the  King!" 

"I  can  not  do  that,  your  highness." 


112  A    Tale    Half    Told. 

"Why?" 

"The  King  has  fed  me,  your  highness." 

"Well !  I  will  save  the  King  if  you  will  save 
the  President;  will  you  do  it?" 

"Yah,  yah,  but  I  will  not  be  let  go  with  a  horse, 
so  I  will  go  on  my  feet  to  the  monastery,  there 
they  will  lend  me  one,  for  I  shall  not  tell  them  for 
what  purpose  I  want  it.  Good-bye,  your  high- 
ness." 

"Wait  a  minute,"  I  said,  "are  you  armed?" 

"I  shall  be  before  I  start,  your  highness." 

"And  have  3'ou  money?" 

"What  shall  I  need  of  money?" 

"There  is  always  need  of  money,"  and  I  threw 
him  the  purse  I  had  with  me  the  night  I  went  to 
the  palace  in  New  Babylon.  "And,  Agab,"  I  said, 
as  my  glance  fell  upon  the  revolver  I  had  lain 
upon  the  table,  "here  is  something  which  may  help 
you  through  the  King's  lines  should  j'ou  fall  into 
them ;  this  weapon  bears  the  initials  of  Kamch 
Eoohk  and  the  royal  coat  of  arms  in  amber  and 
gold ;  should  3'ou  meet  the  Crown's  army  show  them 
this  and  say  that  the  King  gave  it  to  you  to  use 
as  passport  in  exchange  for  a  service  rendered  him 
by  you ;  you  understand  ?" 

"Yah,  yah,  your  highness.    God  be  with  you." 

"And  with  you,  Agab." 


A   Tale    Half   Told.  113 


CHAPTER  XV. 

I   MAKE   AN   ATTEMPT   TO   SEE   THE   PRESIDENT. 

Now  the  hours  grew  hourly  more  unendurable. 
I  knew  that,  barring  all  delay  he  could  not  reach 
Oaue  before  evening  on  the  second  day,  and  the 
extension  of  time  promised  expired  at  sunset  of 
the  same.  The  hours  hastened  to  noon  and  I  had 
eaten  nothing,  nor  once  ceased  my  walk  to  and  fro, 
from  door  to  window,  and  window  to  door.  Black 
Lily  brought  me  tea  and  rolls,  but  I  ordered  her 
away  with  them.  From  her  I  learned  that  the 
dead  were  already  buried  and  the  wounded  being 
cared  for.  Kameh  Eoohk  had  been  warned  of  the 
ambush  and  came  to  the  castle  with  the  greater 
part  of  his  army,  leaving  only  a  small  force  in  front 
of  Oaue.  When  the  President  saw  his  men  out- 
numbered ten  to  one,  he  shouted  to  them  to  escape, 
each  man  for  himself,  and  with  three  of  his  officers 
covered  their  retreat  as  best  he  could.  At  this 
juncture  she  rolled  her  eyes  and  wrung  her  hands, 
and  so  unnerved  me  that  I  bade  her  harshly  to  be 
gone.  No  sooner  had  she  left  me,  however,  when  I 
reproached  myself  for  my  want  of  kindness  and 
rang  the  bell  violently  for  her  return. 

The  afternoon  wore  away  and  darkness  fell;  I 
expected  a  summons  from  Kameh  Eoohk  when  I 


114  A    Tale    Half    Told. 

did  not  appear  at  dinner,  but  none  came ;  later  I 
heard  his  laugh,  and  it  was  not  fancy,  that  of  a 
woman  also.  Black  Lily  brought  up  my  dinner 
with  strange  looks,  and  tokl  me  not  to  be  afraid 
of  it  for  she  had  prepared  it  herself,  and  no  other 
hand  had  touched  it.  I  ate,  and  after  she  had 
removed  the  tray  and  helped  me  disrobe,  I  sat  up 
in  bed  and  read  to  her  out  of  my  testament.  The 
bursts  of  laughter  grew  more  frequent  and  louder, 
though  not  boisterous ;  glasses  clicked,  and  now  and 
then  snatches  of  song  in  a  woman's  voice  rose  to 
my  ears.  At  each  fresh  outburst  Black  Lily  would 
cross  herself,  and  when  I  had  finished  reading 
she  begged  me  to  repeat  a  "Hail  Mary"  after  her, 
which  I  did  to  please  her,  and  kissed  the  cross  on 
her  rosary;  then  she  rolled  herself  in  a  blanket 
and  lay  doAvn  on  the  floor  between  the  door  and 
my  bed,  nor  would  she  leave  me,  though  I  bade 
her  do  so.  Neither  would  she  have  the  lights  out 
and  I  lay  and  watched  them  sputter  nntil  I  fell 
asleep. 

When  I  awoke  the  gray  pinnacles  seen  from  my 
window  were  rose-flushed,  and  I  knew  that  it  was 
sunrise.  Black  Lily  still  slept,  so  I  rose  softly  for 
fear  of  disturbing  her,  and  prepared  the  bath  my- 
self, and  after  dressing  I  sat  very  still  by  the 
window  until  she  wakened. 

During  the  forenoon  I  made  an  attempt  to  see 
Mr.  Crane,  but  was  not  successful,  so  I  went  for  a 
long  walk  with  Black  Lily,  for  inaction  nearly 
drove  me  mad.  It  was  a  perfect  day,  and  the  white 
sails  skimming  the  water  looked  so  delusively  near 
that  it  seemed  that  I  must  be  heard  if  I  called 
loud.     We  gathered  ferns  and  spikes  of  gorgeous 


A    Tale    Half   Told.  115 

crimson  flowers,  and  I  thought  the  while  of  the 
evening  and  what  it  would  bring,  and  what  I  could 
do  to  prevent  it. 

We  had  turned  homewards  and  were  in  sight  of 
the  castle  when  we  came  upon  Kameh  Eoohk  and 
his  friend  the  sorceress.  Black  Lily  began  mutter- 
ing something  unintelligible  and  tried  to  draw  me 
aside,  but  I  kept  steadily  on.  Medea  made  a  deep 
obeisance  when  we  passed — as  much  to  my  at- 
tendant as  myself — and  Kameh  Eoohk  swept  off 
his  hat;  I  inclined  my  head  but  slightly  and  hur- 
ried to  be  out  of  their  sight.  Her  laugh  followed 
us. 

The  carpenters'  work  was  finished  and  the  sound 
of  their  hammers  no  longer  disturbed  the  air;  in- 
stead a  grim  shape  cut  the  sunlight  in  front  of  my 
window  and  yawned  wearily  for  its  prey. 
Throughout  the  afternoon  I  watched  it,  until  an 
hour  before  the  sun  set,  when  I  commenced  fever- 
ishly to  dress.  Never  had  I  taken  such  pains  with 
my  toilet,  and  never,  so  it  seemed  to  me,  had  I 
met  with  such  unsatisfactory  result.  The  image 
of  the  splendid  sorceress  constantly  obtruded  itself 
between  the  glass  and  me,  and  it  was  with  a  sinking 
heart  that  I  left  my  chamber  and  went  in  search 
of  Kameh  Eoohk.  I  met  him  at  the  head  of  the 
stairs  leading  to  the  basement,  and  I  guessed  that 
he  had  been  paying  a  visit  to  llr.  Crane.  He  glanced 
at  me  indifferently,  and  would  have  passed  with- 
out speaking,  but  I  placed  myself  directly  in  his 
way. 

"Well !  what  do  you  want  ?"  demanded  he  in  a 
voice  of  ice. 
When  I  left  my  room  I  knew  exactly  what  I  would 


ii6  A    Tale    Half   Told. 

say,  and  Iiow  I  would  say  it,  but  now  anotlicr  be- 
ing, with  an  entirely  different  role  from  the  one  re- 
liearsed  by  me  substituted  other  words  for  those  I 
had  intended  using. 

"I  want  to  know  how  3'Ou  dare  bring  your  mis- 
tress imder  the  same  roof  witli  me,  j^our  wife?" 

For  a  moment  ho  stared  in  astonishment,  tlien  he 
laughed  and  pushed  me  aside. 

"You  are  cunning,  Delilah,  but  not  cunning 
enough;  now  don't  cling  to  me,"  he  added,  as  I 
caught  his  silken  belt. 

Defeat  faced  me,  and  in  my  anguish  when  I 
thought  of  him  tears  choked  me. 

"You  told  me  you  loved  me,"  I  sobbed,  •  'Ijut 
now — just  now — when  perhaps" — ^but  I  could  say 
no  more  from  weeping. 

"Do  you  mean  that  you  have  learned  to  care  for 
me?"  he  asked. 

"How  can  I  care  for  you  when  you  don't  care 
for  me?" 

"I  do  care  for  you." 

"You  don't !'"  I  cried,  stamping  my  foot,  "you 
keep  that  shameless  woman  in  the  house  with  me, 
and  you  erect  a  gibbet  in  front  of  my  window  when 
you  know  that  I  could  not  bear  to  see  even  you — 
even  your  worst  enemy  hanged !" 

At  the  suspicion  that  my  thought  was  for  the 
President  his  manner  changed. 

"I  am  not  to  be  fooled,  madame,  by  your  soft- 
lipped  pretensions;  you  hope  in  this  way  to  save 
your  lover." 

"Take  refuge  behind  a  lie,  since  you  are  tro 
cowardly  to  admit  the  truth." 

"Wliat  truth?" 


A   Tale    Half   Told.  117 

''That  you  rank  your  mistress  higher  than  your 
wife." 

"You  know  that  you  speak  falsely,"  he  cried, 
following  me  to  the  stair  as  I  walked  away.  "I  rank 
no  one  higher  than  you — no,  nor  anything!  not 
even  my  kingdom !" 

"You  have  shown  it,"  I  replied,  icily,  setting  my 
foot  upon  the  stair. 

I  shuddered  when  I  felt  his  arms  about  me. 

"You  shall  not  leave  me  believing  tliis;  I  love 
you,  and  I  will  prove  it  to  you  by  sending  her  away 
at  once ;  I  did  not  want  her  to  come  here,  but  she 
followed  me,  the  she  devil;  trust  me,  Thalia,  in- 
deed, dear,  I  love  only  you." 

Now  was  my  time !  I  smiled  at  him  through  my 
tears. 

"But  you  doubt  me,"  I  said.    "That  is  not  love." 

"You  doubt  me." 

"I  have  reason  to." 

"You  will  never  have  again." 

My  lips  turned  cold  as  his  touched  them. 

"And  there  will  be  no  hanging  to-night,  Kameh 
Eoohk?" 

"Cut  off  the  last." 

Oh,  how  I  hated  him ! 

"Will  there,  Kameh?" 

"ATot  to-night." 

*'To-morrow  ?" 

His  face  darkened. 

"We  shall  see." 

A  suspicion  chilled  my  blood. 

"Kameh  Eoohk,"  I  said,  "if  you  act  treacher- 
ously I  will  not  kill  you,  but  myself." 


ii8  A    Tale    Half    Told. 

"Give  me  credit  for  some  honor,"  he  replied, 
though  he  turned  deadly  pale. 

I  went  up  one  flight  and  directly  down  by  the 
other. 

"The  King  wishes  me  to  deliver  a  message  to 
the  prisoner,"  I  said  to  the  guard  in  the  basement 
corridor. 

"The  King  has  just  left  here,"  he  replied  with- 
out moving. 

"For  that  reason  he  did  not  wish  to  return  with 
a  message  wdiich  could  as  well  be  delivered  by  an- 
other." 

"Give  me  the  message." 

"Fellow,"  I  rejoined,  haughtily,  "do  you  know 
who  I  am?" 

"No,  madame,"  replied  he  politely,  "I  do  not." 

Before  I  could  answer  a  step  rang  on  the  stone 
stair  and  Kameh  Eoohk  descended. 

"You  are  in  tlie  right,  Liluanlio,  this  lady  has 
DO  authority  to  see  the  prisoner,  neither  now  or  at 
any  future  time." 

"Are  you  deceiving  me?"  I  asked,  as  I  went 
with  him  to  the  floor  above. 

"You  are  trying  to  deceive  me,"  lie  returned, 
"and  I  warn  j-ou  to  be  careful." 

I  set  my  lips  in  silence,  but  I  resolved  that  be- 
fore another  day  darkened  to-night  I  would  see 
tlie  President. 

The  troops  which  had  accompanied  Kameh 
Roohk  on  his  return  to  the  castle  had  been  sent 
back  to  assist  in  taking  Oaue,  and  but  a  small  de- 
tachment remained  to  guard  the  King's  person. 
Some  of  these  were  running  foot-races  through  the 
long  grass  in  front  of  the  castle,  their  uniforms  gay 


A   Tale    Half    Told.  119 

as  the  plumage  of  a  scarlet  bird.  I  watched  them 
from  the  steps  while  the  day  drowned  in  a  lake  of 
fire;  then  the  bugle  sounded,  calling  them  to  their 
evening's  rations.  Soon  their  laughter  increased, 
and  I  distinguished  the  voices  of  the  young  women 
of  scant  attire  as  they  sang  their  stale  and  lascivi- 
ous songs.  The  sun  disappeared  behind  a  wall  of 
clouds  like  a  general  behind  the  smoke  of  battle, 
and  at  length,  conquered,  he  fell  and  vanished  in 
a  sea  of  blood;  the  crimson  faded  to  amber,  only 
to  give  place  to  a  mighty  mountain  of  tender  gray, 
tipped  Avith  a  crown  of  gold,  fitting  monument  to 
the  memory  of  that  dauntless  leader  of  the  legions 
of  Day. 

Always,  a  scene  like  this,  reminds  me  of  my 
father.  I  recall  the  different  shores  from  which 
hand  in  hand,  we  had  watched  the  sun  set.  The 
ignorant  and  lustful  peoples  among  whom  so  often 
our  lines  had  fallen,  and  his  death-bed,  red  with 
the  victory  of  a  spotless  life.  His  last  hour  was  a 
£;olden  sunset  that  gave  promise  of  a  glorious  to- 
morrow. 


I20  A    Talc    Half    Told. 


CHAPTER  XVL 

I  SPEAK  MY   MIND. 

It  was  of  my  father  I  was  thinking  when 
Kameh  Eoohk  came  out  to  me. 

"Aren't  you  coming  in  to  dinner?"  he  asked. 

As  though  an  offering  from  the  earth  Bhick 
Lily  stood  at  my  elbow, 

"Who  dines  with  us?"  I  inquired. 

"No  one  unless  you  wish  it." 

"I  do  wish  it,"  I  replied,  freeing  my  skirts  from 
the  convulsive  jerks  of  Black  Lily's  hands.  "Have 
the  weaver  of  charms  by  all  means." 

"Doan  yusc  eat  nufin  whar  dat  she-debbil  am," 
groaned  the  poor  black  in  my  ear. 

I  placed  my  finger  upon  her  lips,  and  Kameh 
Eoohk  smiled. 

"I  am  quite  capable  of  protecting  my  wife,  even 
against  the  spells  of  a  sorceress,"  he  said,  "but  your 
devotion  shall  not  go  unrewarded ;  here  is  some- 
thing to  look  at,"  and  he  threw  her  a  piece  of 
gold,  "and  for  something  to  do,  you  may  stand 
back  of  her  chair  and  watch  all  that  passes  to 
her." 

One  thing  that  never  varied  in  the  household 
of  Kameh  Roolik  was  the  excellence  of  the  dinner 
and  the  perfection  of  Ihe  service  ;  one  coukl  exhaust 
the   vocabulary  of   praise  on   the   savory   dishes. 


A   Tale    Half    Told.  121 

While  I  ate  I  could  but  notice  the  daintiness  of  the 
manner  in  which  he  and  his  mistress  held  the  bits 
of  meat  between  their  fingers.  The  custom  of 
eating  sitting  tailor-fashion  upon  the  floor,  which 
had  been  practiced  by  his  ancestors,  was  abolished 
when  the  Crown  became  Christian,  and  we  sat  at 
table.  As  the  meal  progressed  I  became  more  and 
more  fascinated  by  the  superb,  insinuating,  dust- 
brown  beauty  of  Medea.  Her  breath  exhaled  the 
odor  of  roses,  she  lounged,  but  did  not  lie  upon 
the  table,  her  teeth  flashed,  and  the  room  rang 
with  her  enchanting  laughter.  I  was  conscious  of 
a  certain  feeling  of  disappointment  that  I  was  not 
a  man. 

"Wing,"  said  Kameh  Roohk,  "give  me  madame's 
wine  and  pass  her  mine."  He  took  a  swallow  from 
his  glass  before  it  was  passed  me.  He  also  tasted 
each  dish  before  I  was  served. 

"You  will  now  see,"  he  said,  after  dinner  was 
over,  "that  I  have  full  confidence  in  every  one  be- 
neath my  roof;  I  do  not  believe  that  any  one  will 
attempt  the  life  of  my  wife,  but  if  they  should  do 
so  they  must  also  strike  me ;  Medea,"  turning  to 
tlie  sorceress,  "my  Queen  justly  resents  your  pres- 
ence in  this  house.  I  must,  accordingly,  ask  you 
not  to  prolong  your  stay  beyond  to-night.  To- 
morrow under  proper  escort  you  may  return  to 
your  home." 

Medea  rose  and  came  slowly  toward  us,  for  he 
had  come  to  stand  beside  me  as  he  spoke,  he  now 
stepped  in  front  of  ne. 

"So  this  is  my  dismissal,  is  it?"  she  demanded, 

"It  could  be  considered  nothing  else/'  rejoined 
he. 


122  A    Tale    Half    Told. 

"My  love  for  you  counts  nothing?" 

"Nothing  by  the  side  of  my  love  for  another." 

"Boast !"  she  hissed,  "you  will  tire  of  her  as  you 
have  of  me !" 

"Perhaps,"  replied  ho  coolly,  "but  as  my  wife 
she  will  have  rather  the  best  of  the  situation, 
where  you  have  not." 

"And  you  taunt  me,  cur!" 

"You  provoked  it — now,  don't  make  a  scene," 
he  continued,  as  the  great  tears  gathered  in  her 
eyes. 

I  felt  a  contempt  for  him  then  surpassing  all 
my  loathing  of  the  past. 

"No,  don't  make  a  scene,"  I  entreated,  stepping 
suddenly  to  the  front,  "he  is  not  worth  it." 

Had  the  painted  god  on  the  door  panel  sprung 
into  active  life  it  could  not  have  created  greater 
consternation ;  the  tears  on  Medea's  lashes  forgot 
to  drop  and  Black  Lily  staggered  to  the  window 
as  though  she  would  make  her  escape  by  that 
means.  Kameh  Roohk  turned  on  me  a  face  that 
was  dark-red. 

"What  specie  of  female  kind  arc  you?"  he  de- 
manded. 

"A  specie  which  despises  that  of  which  you  are 
the  male,"  I  retorted. 

"What  have  I  done  now,  red  saint?" 

"You  have  insulted  a  woman  who.  loves  you; 
who  has  shared  your  perils,  pleasures,  your  tri- 
umphs and  defeat ;  you  have  humiliated  her  before 
the  rival  she  hates,  but  hor  humiliation  is  your 
humiliation,  and  her  shame  is  also  yours.  I  asked 
you  to  send  her  away,  it  is  true,  but  it  was  only 
to  play  upon  you  as  you  have  played  upon  her. 


A   Tale    Half    Told.  123 

it  was  because  1  had  an  end  to  obtain  as  you  had 
an  end  to  obtain,  and  jealousy  had  no  part  in 
the  game  I  played.  I  love  other  than  you,  as  you 
love  other  than  her,  but  know  that  I  had  rather 
see  him  hanged,  yes,  and  the  whole  race  hanged, 
yes,  and  myself  mount  the  gibbet  than  to  make  my- 
self the  creature  of  a  man  without  a  heart.  Oh ! 
I  know  what  you  will  do,  no  need  to  threaten; 
bring  him  here,  tear  him  limb  from  limb  in  my 
presence !  dishonor  me  before  his  eyes !  Still  will 
I  know  that  he  would  rather  see  me  dead  a  thou- 
sand times  than  your  willing  prey !" 

Having  now  delivered  the  longest  speech  of  my 
whole  life,  I  stopped  to  re>^t. 

"Oh,  oh,  debbil !  debbil !  dis  am  yuse  kingdom !" 
rolled  in  groans  from  the  window. 

"Ah,  but  he  cannot  bring  him  here !''  shrieked 
Medea,  starting  in  at  the  pitch  in  which  I  had 
finished.  "Do  you  think,  you  fool" — I  did  not  like 
the  term — "that  he  would  have  let  him  live  until 
now  had  he  had  him  in  his  power !  He  escaped 
that  very  night,  fighting  like  a  white  devil;  be- 
neath his  coat  he  was  armor-clad,  and  the  bullets 
glanced  aside  as  did  ■  the  swords ;  he  dashed  into 
groups  that  were  surrounding  his  men,  slashing 
right  and  left  with  his  naked  sword!  Oh,  it  was 
glorious  to  see  him !  The  King's  men  fell  beneath 
his  blows  like  wheat  before  the  scythe;  oh,  it  was 
grand!  Into  the  tempest  he  charged,  calling 
upon  his  men  to  save  themselves  if  they  could  and 
wait  for  him  in  the  Republican  camp ;  hands  raised 
to  drag  him  from  his  saddle  were  struck  off  at  the 
wrist,  curses  followed  him  and  a  volley  of  balls, 
but  still  he  lived !    One  horse  was  shot  under  him, 


124  ^A    Tale    Half    Told. 

and  ho  leaped  to  another,  that  one  fell  and  he  rode 
another !  At  length  he  began  his  retreat,  rushing 
off  with  the  enemy  hot  at  his  heel^,  now  turning 
and  driving  them  back,  now  pushing  on  after  his 
fleeing  soldiers,  until  at  last  his  pursuers  gave  up 
the  chase  and  returned  to  the  castle,  beaten,  the 
whole  lot  of  them,  by  one  man !  Oh,  it  was  mar- 
vellous I" 

"Which  side  are  you  on?"  I  asked,  when  she 
stopped  to  take  breath  and  throw  back  the  long 
black  hair  which  had  fallen  in  a  veil  over  her  bosom 
during  this  dramatic  recital. 

She  shook  her  raven  tresses,  and  burst  into  be- 
witching laughter. 

"The  King's,  pale  fool.  I  am  a  Hawouitian, 
though  I  be  despised  of  my  sovereign;  above  the 
wearied  lover  sits  the  King,  the  prince  of  my  peo- 
ple, and  in  Medea's  heart  no  personal  injury  can 
him  dethrone !" 

And  he  scorned  this  woman,  and  preferred  me; 
my  contempt  turned  to  pity  for  his  distorted  judg- 
ment. I  looked  at  him  and  he  at  me,  then  he 
laughed  and  went  to  tlie  door. 

"Since  you  appear  amiably  disposed  toward  one 
another,"  he  remarked,  "I  think  it  perfectly  safe 
to  leave  you  unmuzzled,  and  remove  the  high  board 
fence  that  divides  you ;  when  you  have  talked  it 
over  let  me  know  what  you  decide,"  and  he  passed 
through  the  hall  and  outer  door  into  the  night 
beyond. 

"He  loves  you,"  said  Medea,  contemptuously, 
when  the  sound  of  his  footsteps  had  died  away, 
"you !  you !"  and  she  laughed  musically  if  some- 
what wildly. 


A   Tale    Half    Told.  12^ 

That  is  all  the  thanks  we  get  from  some  people 
in  this  world. 

"Look  upon  yourself !"  she  cried,  pointing  to  a 
mirror,  ''upon  yourself  and  then  upon  me." 

I  knew  it,  but  what  was  the  use  of  eternally 
harping  upon  it. 

"Can  you  do  better  than  this?"  she  continued, 
her  voice  rising,  as  she  bared  her  dark,  firm 
breast. 

"I  shall  not  attempt  to,"  I  rejoined  coldly,  as  I 
laid  my  hand  in  Black  Lily's,  and  passed  in  this 
manner  from  the  room. 


126  A   Talc    Half   Told. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

RETRIBUTION. 

A  LIGHT  wind  which  had  risen  from  tho  ocean 
after  the  coming  of  evening,  had  gradually  in- 
creased, and  was  now  steadying  to  a  gale ;  the  long 
grass  writhed  and  hissed  in  its  breath,  while  the 
sea  danced  and  sported  before  it.  No  longer  the 
laughter  of  the  soldiers  could  be  heard,  or  the  songs 
of  the  women.  At  one  moment  its  howl  seemed  the 
only  sound  in  this  quarter  of  the  globe,  the  next  it 
seemed  shrieking  purposely  to  drown  multitudi- 
nous noises.  The  stars  hung  low,  and  Diana, 
heavih''  veiled  in  a  pale  cloiul,  clave  the  dark  vault 
overhead.  Black  Lily  brought  up  a  great  basin  of 
glowing  coals  and  placed  it  on  the  floor,  after  which 
she  locked  the  door  carefully,  and  rolling  herself  in 
a  blanket  lay  down  on  the  floor  to  sleep ;  I  knelt  by 
the  window,  my  face  to  the  ocean  and  thought  and 
thought. 

The  affairs  of  this  world  were  fast  getting  be- 
yond my  control.  Sometlving  was  wrong  some- 
where, else  why  was  I  repeatedly  tricked  ?  Twice 
had  I  been  cozened  by  tho  same  person.  I  a 
Demorest  and  part  Greek !  I  knew  now  that  noth- 
ing that  I  could  offer,  or  heaven  bestow  could  pre- 
vail upon  Kameh  Eoohk  to  show  mercy  to  Mr. 
Crane,  nor  ever  had.    He  had  let  me  believe  that  he 


A   Tale    Half   Told.  127 

would  spare  him  for  a  price,  but  lie  had  lied.  He 
was  a  liar,  and  a  prince  of  liars,  and  I  was  an  easy 
dupe.  Yea,  a  silly  creature,  who  much  over-rated 
her  powers  of  fascination.  But  I  had  paid  the 
penalty  of  my  conceit.  Those  twenty-five  kisses 
burned  upon  my  lips  and  I  crimsoned  with  disgust 
and  rubbed  my  handkerchief  violently  across  them. 
Mr.  Crane  had  never  been  completely  in  Ms  power ; 
and  if  ever  the  hour  came !  The  gallows  creaked 
in  the  wind  and  I  shuddered  and  laid  my  face  on 
my  arms. 

I  was  roused  by  my  pet  cat  striking  playfully  at 
the  loose  locks  of  hair  about  my  ears.  I  gathered 
the  soft,  gray  thing  to  my  bosom  and  I  felt  the 
sympathetic  thrill  of  his  dainty  body  as  he  purred 
against  my  throat.  Suddenly  I  stared  deeper  into 
the  night  and  rubbed  my  eyes. 

On  the  white  of  the  beach  appeared  a  dark,  mov- 
ing line.  It  seemed  to  pour  out  from  behind  a 
huge  bowlder,  and  lengthened  like  a  black  ribbon 
loosed  from  its  roll.  On  it  came,  noiselessly  and 
without  haste.  Then  a  sharp  cry  rose  from  a 
wakened  sentinel,  and  was  echoed  in  the  camp,  and 
spread  wildly  through  the  t^nts  of  sleeping  men, 
and  to  the  castle.  There  were  confused  cries  and  a 
blind  rushing  of  men  into  the  arms  of  the  foe.  I 
set  down  the  cat  and  made  a  rush  for  the  door  lead- 
ing into  the  hall,  shaking  Black  Lily  as  I  passed. 
I  slipped  back  the  bolt  and  had  turned  the  knob 
when  a  deafening  roar  rent  the  air  and  the  door 
flew  back,  throwing  me  violently  to  the  floor.  I 
fell  across  Black  Lily,  thereby  sustaining  no  in- 
jury myself,  but  terrifying  her  beyond  power  of 
speech.     I  slipped  from  her  grasp,  and  leaving  her 


128  'A   Tale    Half   Told. 

to  recover  her  wits  as  best  she  could,  sped  through 
the  hall  to  the  stair.  The  hall  was  in  blackness 
save  for  the  dark  radiance  of  night  which  streamed 
through  the  door,  opened  wide.  Dark  forms  were 
surging  through  this  opening,  uttering  no  sound 
and  breaking  the  silence  only  with  their  shuffling 
feet  and  quick  breathing.  Then  a  command  rang 
out  sharp  and  clear: 

"Bring  a  torch,  some  one.  Stand  back  there, 
men,  don't  crowd." 

I  caught  my  breath  and  ran  half  way  of  the  stair, 
then  stopped. 

A  torch  not  kindled  by  order  of  the  President 
suddenly  lit  the  hall  with  a  sheet  of  flame,  and 
played  upon  a  ghastly  spectacle.  A  glint  of  shim- 
mering silk  caught  its  rays  and  threw  them  upon  a 
human  head  with  face  disfigured  past  recognition; 
a  little  to  one  side  was  stretched  the  stalwart  figure 
of  the  King,  in  j)rincely  and  resplendent  garb. 
Pale  and  calm  in  this  sea  of  fire  stood  the  Presi- 
dent, and  behind  him,  far  out  in  the  night,  grew 
and  grew  a  sea  of  human  faces,  then  he  cried  out 
loudly : 

"Carry  them  out  and  save  whoever  may  be  in  the 
house  beside,"  and  made  a  dash  up  the  stairs. 

I  fled  before  him,  though  he  called  upon  me  to 
stop,  for  I  remembered  Black  Lily  and  my  fright- 
ened cat.  The  room  was  lighted  from  the  flames 
below,  and  I  descried  Black  Lily  standing,  black 
and  awful,  in  the  middle  of  the  floor,  holding  at 
arm's  length  the  struggling  body  of  the  cat  whose 
throat  she  clutched  with  the  frenzy  of  madness.  I 
shrieked  and  snatched  the  poor  little  creature  from 
her  grasp ;  it  gasped  and  died  in  my  hands. 


A   Tale    Half    Told.  129 

Holding  my  dead  pet  under  one  arm,  with  the 
other  hand  I  pushed  the  frenzied  black  into  the 
arms  of  Mr.  Crane.  He  threw  a  blanket  over  her 
head  and  rushed  through  the  door. 

"Wait  here/'  he  shouted  from  a  billow  of  smoke. 

It  was  evident,  from  the  nature  of  the  fire,  that 
the  explosion  had  come  from  the  inside.  The  King 
had  probably  been  loading  his  rifle  near  the  grate, 
or  perhaps  Medea  held  the  powder  flask,  standing 
too  near  the  hungry  red  embers.  Clouds  of  smoke 
began  to  pour  into  the  room  from  the  hall,  so  I 
closed  the  door  and  went  over  to  the  window  to  wait 
until  he  should  return.  A  shout  rose  from  outside 
and  I  leaned  out  to  see  the  President  stagger  down 
the  steps  with  his  enormous  burden  and  fling  her 
with  scant  ceremony  at  the  crowd,  after  which  he 
turned  to  enter  the  house  again  by  the  door,  but  I 
called  to  him  from  the  window. 

"Don't  jump,  sweetheart,"  he  cried,  running  to- 
ward me,  and  raising  his  face  from  which  perspira- 
tion streamed  through  a  grimy  coat  of  smoke. 

Quickly  a  ladder  was  procured  which  I  could 
have  descended,  I  am  sure,  without  assistance,  but 
it  was  no  time  to  parley,  so  I  allowed  him  to  go 
down  it  with  me,  bundle  fashion  under  his  arm. 

Shortly  after  daybreak  the  flames  were  extin- 
guished, and  Mr.  Crane  came  to  the  tent  where  I 
was  domiciled  Math  Black  Lily.  He  had  washed 
the  smoke  from  his  face,  but  the  ends  of  his  hair 
were  singed,  and  his  uniform  much  scorched. 

"The  woman  is  dead,"  he  said,  when  he  had 
touched  m.y  bond  with  his  lips. 

"And  the  King?" 


130  A    Tale    Half    Told. 

"lie  will  live,  God  pity  him ;  but  he  is  blind,  and 
disfigured  for  life." 

"Is  he  conscious?" 

''Scarcely." 

"I  will  go  to  him,"  I  said,  rising. 

Several  days  slipped  by  and  the  quiet  of  that 
desert  valley  became  a  thing  of  the  past.  Couriers 
rode  furiously  to  the  President's  quarters,  and 
freshly  mounted,  galloped  away  again.  The  quick- 
ening surf  of  a  living  ocean  roared  about  us,  the 
air  beat  with  the  stirring  pulse  of  great  events; 
the  heart  of  that  mountain  solitude  had  been  pene- 
trated by  a  master.  More  days  passed,  a  declara- 
tion of  peace  was  signed,  and  Hawouitia  was  again 
a  Kcpublic.  Meantime,  oblivious  of  the  affairs  of 
men,  indifferent  to  the  throw  of  dice,  the  deposed 
King  slept  under  quieting  narcotics  through  the 
long  days,  and  slept  again  at  night. 

One  afternoon,  it  was  in  the  glow  of  a  golden 
dusk,  Mr.  Crane  told  me  that  we  were  all  to  start 
for  'New  Babylon  early  the  following  morning.  We 
were  walking  upon  the  beach,  where  once  I  had 
walked  with  Kameh  Roohk.  At  the  words  I  looked 
past  him  down  the  narrow  vista  of  our  mountain 
world  to  the  gray  tent  where  lay  that  -misguided 
and  unfortunate  prince. 

"And  what  of  him  ?"  I  asked,  inclining  my  head 
in  that  direction. 

"He  will  be  left  with  attendants  and  a  surgeon, 
who  will  do  everything  it  lies  in  human  power 
to  do  to  prolong  his  life  and  make  him  comfort- 
able." 

"You  will  let  him  live?" 


A   Tale    Half    Told.  131 

"A  price  will  be  upon  the  head  of  any  one  who 
seeks  in  any  way  to  shorten  his  life." 

I  turned  my  back  upon  the  tent  and  gazed  wide 
over  the  desolate  ocean. 

"I  will  tender  my  resignation  as  soon  as  the  most 
important  of  national  affairs  are  settled,"  he  went 
on,  ''and  then  we  will  go  away,  you  and  I,  to  that 
country  known  as  America,  and  you  will  be  my 
wife." 

"And  my  previous  marriage?" 

"Will  be  set  aside ;  it  is  a  phantom,  a  thread,  and 
I  do  not  believe  it  would  hold  in  a  court  of  inquiry ; 
at  any  rate  a  divorce  will  be  easily  procured." 

The  sun  sinking  behind  the  low  mainland  dyed 
the  waves  blood  red ;  over  the  sea  circled  a  single 
gull,  and  she  wheeled  and  wheeled  in  that  limit- 
less space,  until,  uttering  a  weird,  unearthly  shriek, 
she  shot  straight  over  our  heads  in  the  direction  of 
the  pale  tent. 

"Eobert,"  and  I  stretched  my  arms  high,  then 
locked  my  fingers  back  of  my  head  and  looked  into 
his  eyes,  "your  life  has  been  governed  by  the  love 
of  courage,  the  love  of  honor,  the  love  of  a  spotless 
name,  and  the  love'  of  God  in  man,  now  shall  all 
this  be  undone  by  the  love  of  a  -^.oman?  Ah,  dear 
heart,  it  is  for  hours  such  as  these  that  laws  are 
made,  and  codes  of  honor  drafted.  Besides,  there 
are  laws  that  have  never  known  the  printer's  ink 
that  are  ingrafted  on  the  human  soul.  Think  of 
him,  bruised,  broken,  blinded,  hopes  blasted,  am- 
bition dead !  He  has  left  but  life  to  lose — life  and 
me.  Life !  that  to  him  is  a  mockery,  an  empty 
word;  but  me  he  loves.     I  am  all  he  has,  his  one 


132  A    Tale    Half    Told. 

ewe  lamb,  and  the  David  does  not  live  who  can  take 
me  from  him !" 

Having  now  made  next  to  the  longest  speech  of 
my  whole  life,  I  stopped,  again  to  rest. 

But  now,  now,  it  was  not  a  man  I  scorned  who 
faced  me,  not  a  seducer  of  women,  and  a  mocker 
of  their  wrongs ;  but  the  man  I  loved,  a  gentleman ! 
a  knight !  But  a  very  modern  knight,  for  he  turned 
first  red,  then  white,  then  red  again. 

"And  you  are  going  to  leave  me  for  him  ?" 

"I  am  not  going  to  leave  him  for  you.  There  is 
a  slight  diiference,  the  same  but  not  tho  same,"  I 
hurried  on  nervously,  "yes,  a  difference,  the  same, 
but  no " 

"I  see  no  difference,"  he  broke  in  passionately, 
"I  too  love  you,  and  I  too  want  you !" 

"You  may  want  me,  but  you  do  not  need  me  as 
he  does;  you " 

"Yes,  I  do  need  you,"  he  broke  in  again,  though 
I  protest  he  is  a  gentleman,  "your  image  draws  me 
day  and  night,  night  and  day!  It  slips  between 
me  and  every  other  being,  every  other  desire.  Your 
voice  calls  me  always,  ever;  from  the  deeps  of  my 
life,  from  the  deeps  of  my  soul,  from  the  deeps  of 
my  love !  ah !  Thalia,  you  said  that  you  loved  me." 

"I  do  love  you,"  I  cried  from  my  yearning  heart. 

"How  can  you  say  so  when  you  throw  me  over? 
■when  you  turn  your  back  upon  me  and  bid  me  leave 
vou,  dearest,  that  is  not  love." 

"It  is." 

"No,  dear,  you  can  not  love  me." 

I  beat  my  clenched  fists  together,  maddened  that 
he  should  doubt  my  love;  that  love  which  was  a 


'And  are  you  going  to  leave  me  for  him?" 


A   Tale    Half    Told.  133 

part  of  my  being ;  linked  to  the  white  of  my  spirit, 
the  red  of  my  flesh. 

"I  love  you !  I  love  you !  I  love  you !"  and  I  fin- 
ished with  a  stamp  of  my  foot. 

The  blood  surged  in  a  wave  to  his  hair ;  he  leaned 
forward  and  caught  my  wrists. 

"No  more  than  I  love  you,  my  saint,  beauteous 
marble  with  pulse  of  flame!  Oh,  Thalia,  can  we 
live  apart?" 

"What  must  be  can  be,"  I  replied. 

"But  must  it  be  ?" 

"Yes,  Eobert,  it  must;  so  please  be  good  to  me 
and  help  me  to  be  strong." 

"I  am  always  good  to  you,"  he  sighed  sadly, 
"but  you  are  never  good  to  me." 

Now  every  one  knows  that  this  statement  was, 
from  every  point  of  view,  false,  but  a  long  life  with 
my  good  father  had  taught  me  the  utter  futility  of 
arguing  with  a  man,  so  I  let  it  stand,  and  began 
painting  in  glowing  colors  our  next  lease  of  life; 
when  we  should  walk  this  earth  again,  and  get 
acquainted  again,  and  feel  again  the  little  thrills 
of  the  awakening  of  love,  which  were  never  quite 
the  same  after  one  really  was  in  love,  and  how  all 
of  our  sufferings  this  time  might  be  turned  to  good 
account  another  time,  and  much  more  like  this. 
But  it  brought  him  little  comfort,  for  men  are 
strange  beings,  who  appear  to  know  only  one  time 
and  that  this  Minute !  He  called  my  avowed  belief 
that  our  affinitive  souls  must  be  united  on  earth 
some  time,  somehow,  one  of  my  'idiosyncrasies,'  al- 
though he  himself  had  told  me  not  long  before  that 
I  was  his  fate.     Well,  few  of  us  are  consistent. 

The  next  morning  Kameh  Roohk  was  moved  into 


134  A    Tale    Half    Told. 

the  castle,  for  only  the  front  of  the  building  was 
burned,  and  the  other  rooms  had  been  fitted  up  for 
our  use.  Black  Lily  and  the  gardener  only  staid 
with  us,  for  Kameh  Eoohk  had  spent  a  fortune  in 
arms  and  other  equipments  for  the  revolution,  and 
was  no  longer  a  rich  man. 

In  the  afternoon  I  sat  on  the  stone  steps,  which 
were  unimpaired,  and  watched  the  Republic's  sol- 
diers depart  for  their  boats.  There  was  a  sharp 
command,  "Forward,  fours  right,  fours  left  into 
line,  halt!"  and  then  they  marched  away  to  the 
music  of  life  and  drum,  playing  strains  familiar 
to  many  a  land,  "The  Girl  I  Left  Behind  Me." 

He  did  not  command  the  troops,  but  came  to  me 
where  I  sat  looking  after  their  moving  backs,  and 
baring  his  head,  knelt  at  my  feet. 

"Good-bye,  my  love,"  he  said,  carrying  one  of  my 
hands  to  his  lips. 

"Good-bye,  my  lover,"  and  I  laid  the  other  upon 
his  head,  "and  God  be  with  you !" 

"And  with  you." 

We  kissed  solemnly,  and  he  went  away,  turning 
three  times  to  lift  his  hat,  and  catch  the  kiss  I 
waited  him.    Then  the  bowlder  hid  him. 

I  listened  to  the  splash  of  oars,  which  to-day  no 
wind  drowned.  Then  fell  the  silence,  and  my  loDg- 
ing  for  him  grew  w4th  the  awful  stillness. 


A   Tale    Half   Told.  135 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

I   AM    LEFT   ALONE. 

"Is  the  clay  fair,  Thalia  ?" 

"Most  fair,  Kameh;  the  sky  is  sapphire,  the 
waters  blue,  glossy  black,  and  treacherous  green ; 
far  out  upon  the  waves  rides  a  brave  ship,  the  sun 
lights  to  gold  the  sands  at  our  feet.  If  you  will 
but  raise  your  head  you  will  feel  its  rays  upon  your 
face." 

"I  keep  my  head  lowered,  Thalia,  that  my  dis- 
figured visage  may  the  less  offend  your  eyes ;  ah, 
sleeping  or  waking  there  is  ever  present  to  my 
mind  the  haunting  knowledge  that  you  look  upon 
my  disfigurement  while  I  may  not  see  your  dear 
face;  this  pain  is  wedded  to  that  other  pain  in  my 
heart,  the  pain  of  remorse.  I  wronged  you,  Thalia, 
I  tricked  and  cheated  you ;  I  took  advantage  of  your 
love  for  another  to  bind  your  life  to  mine.  Hoping 
against  hope  for  the  happiness  which  your  love 
alone  could  give  I  pressed  the  thorn  deeper  in  my 
heart.  Crowned  with  the  pride  of  my  beauty,  my 
strength,  my  noble  birth,  I  would  not  for  an  in- 
stant admit  the  possibility  of  your  never  loving  me, 
and  I  sowed  the  dragon's  teeth  that  have  sprung  up 
a  crop  of  armed  men  to  destroy  me.  My  beauty, 
where  is  it?  My  strength,  what  is  strength  to  a 
blind  man  ?     True,  Samson  with  blind  strength  de- 


136  A   Tale    Half    Told. 

stroyed  his  enemies,  but  my  enemies  have  been 
transformed  into  my  friends ;  tlie  one  enemy  I  ever 
feared  (she  whom  I  love)  has  become  my  eyes,  her 
shoulder  the  staff  upon  Avhicli  I  lean.  My  noble 
birth !  Has  blood  royal  been  able  to  keep  a  coronet 
upon  my  brow?  All  is  transitory,  all  a  fading 
flower,  all  save  love;  upon  this  axis  the  world  re- 
volves forever,  showing  at  each  turn  a  change  of 
countenance  in  response  to  the  different  fingers 
swept  along  its  keys.  When  I  took  oath  I  had  not 
meant  to  break  it,  but  then  I  met  you  and  you 
loved  the  President,  the  man  who  walked  with  care- 
less ease  the  halls  of  my  forefathers;  I  was  mad- 
dened at  your  seeming  indifference  to  the  bonds 
which  made  him  another's,  and  his  ill-concealed 
passion  for  yourself,  and  I  betrayed  the  Eepublic  I 
had  sworn  to  uphold.  I  have  never  been  sorry  that 
I  did.  Sorrier  ain  I  that  I  forgot  my  birth,  and 
sold  my  birthright  for  a  mess  of  pottage!  and  sor- 
rier still  for  the  wreckage  I  have  made  of  your  life ; 
yet  you  have  said  that  you  forgive  me;  tell  me 
again  that  you  do,  Thalia." 

"I  forgive  you,  Kameh." 

"With  all  your  heart?" 

"Yea,  with  all  my  heart,  and  all  my  soul ;  and  if 
pity  be  akin  to  love  then  I  love  you  too." 

"All  my  life  I  have  believed  that  I  had  rather 
die  than  be  an  object  of  pity,  but  pity  from  you  is 
not  the  thing  I  have  always  thought  it ;  it  does  not 
humiliate,  but  by  it  I  am  elevated  It  is  a  year 
now,  Thalia,  since  you  gave  up  the  world  from 
pity,  pity  of  me !  couriers  bring  us  news  of  II10  re- 
fusal of  President  Crane  to  serve  another  term,  the 
contention  among  the  people  over  the  nomination 


A   Tale    Half   Told.  137 

of  a  new  candidate,  and  the  probabiliiy  of  a  re- 
stored monarchy.  But  my  ambition  is  dead^  I 
would  not  now  be  king  an  I  coukl,  and  content  am 
I  that  in  the  palace  at  New  Babylon  shall  dwell 
the  'sons  of  the  stranger.' " 

His  face  was  turned  from  me,  his  head  held 
down,  his  hat  brought  low  over  his  forehead  as  was 
now  his  custom  when  in  my  presence.  I  pitied — 
and  had  it  not  been  for  another,  I  might  have  loved 
him.  But  that  other  lived  forever  in  my  heart. 
Above  death,  stronger  than  life,  ever  first  and  ever 
last.  Alike  in  the  flush  of  the  sun's  rise,  in  the 
sapphire  of  noon,  in  the  crimson  of  the  sunset,  in 
the  pale  dusk  of  evening,  and  under  the  heavy  man- 
tle of  night  there  was  for  me  but  one  vision.  Slen- 
der and  straight,  graceful  and  strong  he  marked 
the  way  before  me,  turning  to  look  upon  me  as  he 
went.     Robert!  Robert!  Robert! 

The  sunset  came,  and  the  ocean  lay  beneath  its 
tinted  clouds  in  waves  of  roseate  hue.  A  dank  still- 
ness was  upon  the  land  and  upon  the  endless  waters. 
The  sun  went  to  rest,  and  darkness  entered  our 
mountain  corridor.  .  In  the  distance  we  heard  Agab 
singing  his  Arab  songs,  sitting  in  the  door  of  his 
hut.  i  took  Kameh  Koohk's  hand  and  put  it  upon 
my  shoulder,  and  we  returned  to  the  castle  and  our 
waiting  dinner.  Afterward  in  the  starlight,  sit- 
ting upon  the  high,  wide  steps  with  the  long  grass 
whispering  beneath  us  and  the  giant  precipices  cut- 
ting the  spangled  sky  above,  I  filled  his  pipe  and 
lit  it  for  him,  and  he  told  me  of  the  customs  of  his 
dark  and  kingly  ancestors.  He  spoke  simply, 
though  arrogant  by  nature,  and  a  man  of  much 
conceit.     With  his  face  turned  from  me  and  to- 


138 


A    Tale    Half    Told. 


ward  the  dark  sea,  lie  quietly  described  the  dignity 
of  his  princely  fathers,  and  their  love  for  the  shy, 
brown  maidens  they  took  for  wife.  He  told  me 
tales  of  graceful  gazelles,  painted,  and  with  flowers 
and  feathers  in  their  loose  hair,  and  gold  and  sil- 
ver rings  upon  their  slim  ankles,  w^ho  danced  with 
slow  and  perfect  time  before  the  chiefs  and  war- 
riors; of  the  beauty  of  their  eyes,  and  the  supple- 
ness of  their  dark  limbs;  a  fantastic  picture,  un- 
real as  the  pageants  of  our  dreams. 

Then  the  wind  came  up  from  the  sea  and  we  went 
indoors.     In  like  fashion  did  the  days  pass. 

Ofttimes  I  would  sit  in  the  evenings  and  watch 
his  drooping  face  gleam  amber-pale  by  the  candles' 
light,  and  in  my  great  pity  for  that  crushed  and 
broken  spirit  I  had  it  in  my  heart  to  curse  the  hour 
that  had  wrought  this  hellish  change. 

One  evening,  it  was  while  the  sullen  red  sunset 
of  a  tempestuous  day  flared  from  the  horizon  across 
the  wind-swept  sands  of  my  desolate  Avorld,  I  sat 
down  on  the  stone  sill  of  an  oriel  window  to  think 
awhile  in  the  seclusion  of  my  own  room  while  wait- 
ing for  my  husband's  call  to  lead  him  downstairs  to 
our  evening  meal.  It  was  the  anniversary  of  my 
marriage,  and  melancholy  memories  greeted  me  at 
dawn  and  clung  to  my  spirits  throughout  the  day, 
reviving  the  pain  which  time  had  in  some  degree 
dulled.  The  anniversary  of  the  day  when  the  sun 
of  my  girlhood  had  passed  into  almost  total  eclipse. 
Since  then  I  had  been  moving  in  changeless  twi- 
light, pierced  by  the  radiance  of  but  one  star — the 
certainty  of  Jiis  love.  All  day  I  had  been  mocked 
by  visions  of  what  "might  have  been."  Why,  in 
the  ideal  brain,  is  the  witchery  of  hallowed  illusions 


A    Tale    Half    Told.  139 

never  dispelled?  Why  do  lost  hopes  blossom  eter- 
nally ? 

Yet,  hope  had  set  in  my  sky,  and  only  a  pale 
afterglow  held  off  the  heaviness  of  night.  I  sought 
by  closing  my  eyes  to  see  only  the  burning  plough- 
shares over  which  I  had  walked,  and  to  still  the  stir- 
ing  depths  of  a  love  which  (in  letter)  was  unlawful, 
but  (in  spirit)  God  knew.  And  I  knew  that  God 
knew — and  God  knew  that  I  kept  my  face  stead- 
fastly turned  to  the  pole-star  of  duty,  where  the 
compass  of  conscience  pointed, — and  as  we  knew, 
both  God  and  I, — what  matters  the  opinion  of  men  ? 

I  repeat  that  I  leave  this  writing  for  my  future 
use.  It  is  possible  that  this  book  may  die  before  I 
do.  It  is  even  possible  that  it  may  never  live  ex- 
cept in  my  brain  and  the  contempt  of  the  pub- 
lisher's critic;  yet,  assuming  that  it  falls  into  the 
world's  lap  a  lusty  child,  it  is  doubtless  supposing 
a  gi-eat  deal  in  hoping  that  it  will  be  read  by  a  com- 
ing generation,  of  which  I  expect  to  make  one. 

However,  it  is  my  hope. 

The  sun  set,  and  a  young  moon  rose  pale  above 
the  mountains,  still  my  husband  did  not  call.  The 
dinner  bell  had  sounded  a  half-hour  before,  and 
then  Black  Lily  came. to  inquire  the  cause  of  our 
delay.  I  left  my  seat  in  the  window  and  went  into 
the  hall  to  his  door.  I  was  about  to  rap  when  my 
ear  caught  the  sound  of  a  heavy  sob,  muffled  and 
deep.  Without  ceremony  I  turned  the  knob  and 
entered. 

He  was  lying  face  down  upon  the  bed,  his  head 
buried  in  pillows;  convulsive  sobs  shook  his  stal- 
wart frame.     It  was  the  superb  vanquished,  dis- 


I40  A    Tale    Half    Told. 

armed,  humiliated,  wrestling  with  the  giant  De- 
spair. 

A  great  love — surpassing  anything  I  had  ever 
known — flooded  my  soul  with  a  sea  of  tenderness. 
Unlike  my  passion  for  another,  interfering  with  it 
in  no  way,  and  superior  to  all  flesh,  it  rose  sub- 
limely pure,  a  clear  white  flame  kindled  in  our 
kinship  to  God, 

Black  Lily  stood  at  my  elbow,  her  great  eyes  roll- 
ing, and  her  huge  body  trembling  with  excitement, 
and  while  we  hesitated  he  moved  his  hand  from  be- 
neath the  pillow,  there  was  a  flash,  a  report,  and 
the  sobs  ceased. 

There  is  little  left  worth  telling.  A  few  lines 
and  this  narrative  is  ended.  He  was  buried  by  the 
brothers  from  the  Monastery,  with  all  honors  due 
his  rank.  Oft  at  the  hour  when  the  sun  dawns  we 
visit  his  grave,  old  Agab,  Black  Lily  and  I ;  and 
again  when  the  day  is  closing  and  the  air  grown 
dusk.  Thus  do  I  await  an  hour  that  shall  sweep 
all  obstacles  away,  and  I  may  lay  my  hand  in  that 
of  Mr.  Crane,  and  bid  good-bye  to  old  Agab,  and  we 
go  away  together,  I  and  Mr.  Crane,  with  Black 
Lily,  to  a  country  that  leads  the  world,  where, 
though  I  shall  not  be  a  President's  wife,  I  may  yet 
be  a  President's  mother.     Who  knows  ? 


THE  END. 


